What If Rick Rude Didn't Get Injured?

[The Brain]

What I’d like to have right now is for all you fat, out of shape wrestlezone rejects to keep the noise down while I tell a story of one of the greatest heels of all time.

Ravishing Rick Rude was a top mid card heel for the WWF from 1987-1990. He feuded with popular faces such as Paul Orndorff, Jake Roberts, Roddy Piper, and most famously The Ultimate Warrior. He held the Intercontinental title for five months in 1989 and main evented SummerSlam 90 unsuccessfully challenging Warrior for the world title in a steel cage. In the fall of 1990 Rude left the WWF suddenly. Supposedly Rude left because he was frustrated that he could never get a chance to be the top guy as long as Hulk Hogan was around.

After about a year of occasional independent appearances Rude showed up in WCW. Even though he never won the world title in WCW Rude was a more consistent main event talent. He held the US title for over a year and only lost it when he suffered an injury. He also held the WCW International championship, which was supposed to be about on par with the world title, three times. Rude was cruising along in WCW and was in his third International reign when this happened.

[YOUTUBE]i_rqrRYRlEA[/YOUTUBE]

Rude would never wrestle again. So what do you think Rude would have done in the wrestling world if not for this injury? One thing you should keep in mind before answering is the timing of this injury. It took place in May 1994. Only a month later Hulk Hogan, the man whose stranglehold on the main event spot in WWF supposedly drove Rude from that company, signed with WCW. Would Rude have continued to main event WCW and possibly face off against Hogan eventually, or would he have been forced down the card as the 24 inch pythons eclipsed the spotlight?

I think Rude would have gotten lost in the shuffle like many of the home grown WCW talents did when Hogan came in. This would have opened the door for a WWF return in late 1994/early 1995. I think Rude would have looked at how Bret Hart was starting a trail for a different kind of champion in the WWF. A quick look at the main event heels at the time, Owen Hart, Mabel, and a forty something Bob Backlund, would tell you that a main event opportunity was likely for Rude. I can just picture great feuds with Bret Hart, Razor Ramon, and Shawn Michaels. Bret Hart in particular would have been a great feud for Rude in 1995. Bret was feuding with guys like Hakushi (who I liked), Jerry Lawler, Isaac Yankem, and Jean Pierre Lafitte. I think a lengthy feud with Rude would have been great for Bret after his brief Hakushi feud. I think it would have made the WWF much more enjoyable for a lot of people in 1995. Bret Hart vs. Rick Rude at SummerSlam sounds pretty damn good to me. I still don’t know if a world title reign would have been in the cards, but I definitely see him as a more consistent world title challenger.

So what are your thoughts? With the addition of Hogan would Rude have had continued success in WCW? Would he have stuck around just to get lost in the shuffle? Would he have returned to WWF? Would he have gone somewhere else? Let’s hear it.

 

[RicoLen]

The thing a lot of people don't take into account is that Rick Rude & Curt Hennig were the original Benoit & Eddie. They were best friends most of their lives, and Rude (allegedly) didn't like how Perfect got buried by Hogan, when he should have won the world title.

Rick Rude is really in very nearly the exact same boat as Curt Hennig in regards to injuries too. Rude was a Hall of Fame caliber star, and sooner or later, his time would have come, especially had he gone back to the WWF after Hogan left. In 1994, 1995, & 1996, had Hogan & Rude traded places, it's very likely that he would have taken at least some of the time Diesel spent as world champion.

Rude was on par, talent wise both in the ring and on the mic as Hart, HBK, & Hennig. Unfortunately for everyone, Hennig & Rude were injury prone and it hurt their ability to succeed at making it to the same level as the Hitman & Michaels.

 

[justtxyank]

It amuses me how many "what if" threads about WCW workers always starts with the "well they never would have stayed in WCW so lets talk about what would have happened in the WWF!"

Retroactive history sucks.

Rude was VERY well liked by WCW management and there is no doubt he would have been the main heel for the company even in a Hogan era. The two probably would have feuded for a long time.

 

[The Brain]

It amuses me how many "what if" threads about WCW workers always starts with the "well they never would have stayed in WCW so lets talk about what would have happened in the WWF!"

Retroactive history sucks.

Rude was VERY well liked by WCW management and there is no doubt he would have been the main heel for the company even in a Hogan era. The two probably would have feuded for a long time.

You seem pretty sure here but I think you’re ignoring some facts. When Hogan came to WCW a lot of WCW talent that had been pushed for years was just cast aside. Sure the names like Sting and Flair were still hot but a lot of others were becoming ignored. Even Vader, who WCW put a lot of time and effort into making their top monster heel, was pretty much pushed in the shadows. Take a look at the guys Hogan feuded with after Flair. His best buddy Beefcake and then a bunch of monsters from the Dungeon of Doom. They obviously wanted Hogan to be the underdog against a bunch of giants. A feud with Rude does not fit that formula. I’m not just saying Rude would have gone to WWF because that’s what I wanted. It’s based on what I saw going on in both WCW and WWF at that time.

 

[RicoLen]

It amuses me how many "what if" threads about WCW workers always starts with the "well they never would have stayed in WCW so lets talk about what would have happened in the WWF!"

Retroactive history sucks.

Rude was VERY well liked by WCW management and there is no doubt he would have been the main heel for the company even in a Hogan era. The two probably would have feuded for a long time.

7 times out of 10 I'd be in agreement with you on this. However, as I mentioned, Hennig & Rude were life-long friends, and Rude had his own issues with Hulk Hogan, but he also took exception to how Hennig got buried by Hogan, when Mr. Perfect should have been world champion.

I'm also not one of those guys to crap all over Hogan. I may not have the greatest amount of respect for Hogan, but I'm a Hulkamaniac for life. I love that guy and every time I see him I smile and mark out.

This thing between Rude & Hogan was personal on the same level as Hart & Hogan, except I don't really know how Hogan felt about Rude at that point in time.

Point being, Hogan was one of the bigger reasons Rude left the WWF, even though he'd rather be working with Mr. Perfect, and it's a shame THAT feud never took place.

 

[wrestling fan 666]

I could easily see a world title in his future. He paid his dues, had the experience, had the talent. Eventually, I could have seen him become more of a manager with a stable of heels; then working behind the scenes (aka JJ Dillon).

People forget that in WCCW, he was the first World Heavyweight Champion and defended successfully against the likes of the Von Erichs, Bruiser Brody, the Freebirds, etc. He was not only a talented veteran, he had a great mind set when it came to strategy and psychology in the ring.

I bought a Dudley Boys shoot interview where they were very thankful for Rick Rude for taking them under his wing in ECW. He apparently helped a lot of talent learn the ropes and he enjoyed it. He could be (now) a talent scout; writer; or even a trainer.

Why is this man NOT in the Hall of Fame???

 

[TheHitMark-SirJoseOle]

7 times out of 10 I'd be in agreement with you on this. However, as I mentioned, Hennig & Rude were life-long friends, and Rude had his own issues with Hulk Hogan, but he also took exception to how Hennig got buried by Hogan, when Mr. Perfect should have been world champion.

I'm also not one of those guys to crap all over Hogan. I may not have the greatest amount of respect for Hogan, but I'm a Hulkamaniac for life. I love that guy and every time I see him I smile and mark out.

This thing between Rude & Hogan was personal on the same level as Hart & Hogan, except I don't really know how Hogan felt about Rude at that point in time.

Point being, Hogan was one of the bigger reasons Rude left the WWF, even though he'd rather be working with Mr. Perfect, and it's a shame THAT feud never took place.

RicoLen, I always love to read your input man. I have to say your stuff is a great read especially when considering you’re a fan of the same generation as I. And don't get me wrong, my being a Hogan-mark might hurt my credibility on challenging you on this topic. But I am not sure how exactly Hogan ever buried Hennig. Again, I don't like citing tell all books, shoot interviews or WWE produced DVDs as my rationale for having such opinions. While such media is a great view, listen and read, I really can't find such things to be 100 percent credible as far as information goes.

Getting back on point, during this time frame you’re speaking of, Ultimate Warrior was being groomed to take Hogan's spot. Prior to that Warrior had his feud with Rude over the IC strap and as we know that eventually led to WM VI with Warrior beating Hogan. Would I have preferred to see a Hogan-Hennig title feud in lieu of a Warrior and Hogan one? You darn betcha. Especially considering how Warrior fizzled out. But despite the fact Hennig and Hogan did not have that WrestleMania caliber matchup. They at least had a brief feud during Hogan's second reign, where Hennig's heel tactics got to be seen on the main event stage against Hogan. Therefore I can't really say that I agree with your opinion that Hennig was being buried by Hogan. I would have definitely liked to see Hennig win the World Title myself, but I don't think I can necessarily blame Hulk Hogan for that one. Especially when you consider that there was this apparent desire on the WWF’s part to make Ultimate Warrior the new focal point of the promotion. Plus we also have to remember Hennig's health in the earlier 90s. During that time it was deteriorating because of his back problems. That really hurt Hennig's momentum. After SummerSlam '91 the guy couldn't wrestle for a whole year and after that his comeback was still short lived by comparison to his earlier years as AWA World Champion and WWF IC Champion.

As far as Rude's career path went, I'm sure like any work place up to and including professional sports, entertainment and professional wrestling there has to be egos that affect the flow of things. Along with that I am also confident to say that there has to also be conflict, jealously and dissension. With that said, do I think Hogan's star power factored into Rude leaving the WWF? To a degree I am sure there's the possibility of such a thing happening but I think that's only because Hulk Hogan was still the guy people wanted at the top of the WWF mountain. Even at that point and without the title Hogan was still the man. There's only so much "persuasion" promoters can do when it comes to marketing their stars. It's easier now to look in hindsight and criticize the creative decisions involving Hulk Hogan. It's also very easy for all of us to just say that such a thing was Hogan's complete responsibility while forgetting that it was Vince who was the guy that had the final say. Don't get me wrong I am sure that anyone in a position like Hogan’s could play the star power card and have more leverage with Vince than anyone else. But at the same time if someone like Vince didn't have his own sense of conviction and judgment then he would be looking for a new line of work and he would not have kept his company on the path that he has brought it to at this point. My personal feelings aside about WWE's current product but if every one of Vince’s business decisions during this time were solely at the whim of Hulk Hogan, there wouldn’t be a WWE today. Fact is, WWE love it or hate it is still being ran the way it needs to be in order to exist. Because of this even if I am sure a guy like Hogan used

Rude's 1991 arrival in WCW was an entertaining time in my view. He had an AWESOME push getting into the company and beating Sting for the US Title was memorable. The Dangerous Alliance was great, I always liked WCW’s approach to stables more. I know his reintroduction to the former Jim Crockett Promotions was a little cheesy doign the whole WCW Phantom schtick at Halloween Havoc ’91. It was memorable but not necessarily in a good way. But heck I still enjoyed it as a kid. Rue had a great run there and in addition to Sting, he also beat guys the likes of Ricky Steamboat, Ric Flair, Nikita Koloff and a host of others. I know people here are talking about Rude never being a World Champion and granted the Big Gold Belt's credibility had died a bit during this time, but the WCW International World Title was still a good deal. Rude looked like a million bucks wearing it and in my mind that makes him a former World Champion and a damned entertaining one as well. It's too bad he wasn't able to be the one to unify it with the WCW World Title. Unfortunately, I know his injury timed with Hogan's entering WCW changed things. Like Brain said, Rude wouldn't have fit the formula for being a Hogan opponent but who knows, maybe something would have changed at some point. I can’t say for certain. As I mentioned hindsight is a rather convenient thing to have but it can in no way determine what could have been since the past is what it is...the past.

The only way I can really answer The Brain's topic is by saying that I can only hope that had Rude not been injured, he would have still found gainful employment in either WWF or WCW. Obviously I would have hoped that he'd have still lived longer than the five years he had left of his life following his career ending injury. Again, who knows what could have been? He still might have died in 1999 even if his career ending injury never happened. Bottom line, I'm grateful for the time he had in the wrestling world and of course disappointed to see what could have been even a greater career get cut short. To me Rick Rude is a top personal favorite of mine, great topic Brain and I am glad you created it.

 

[dansaun77]

Rick Rude would never have held the WWE Championship,. He was a great main event heel, but was there to make the face champion look great and carry them to watchable matches. Rude was a strong politician backstage and he was booked to win the WWE Champiopnship at Summerslam 1990. When Warrior refused to wrestle if the match wasnt changed, Rude gave his notice on the spot. Thus why the Bossman feud fizzled out as the feud had already been filmed weeks in advance. Rude did win the Wolrd Title in WCW, The Interbational title was their world title at that stage due to the issues with the NWA and not being able to use their belt when breaking away to become WCW outright.

 

[dd23beatlesfan1]

I actually think that Rick Rude might've stuck around WCW until at least the end of 1994. From what I've read and listened to in interviews, Hulk Hogan never had a problem with Rick Rude, and actually liked him. My guess is that Hogan wouldn't have had a problem working a feud with Rick Rude. Of course he would've won the feud, but I think it's possible that Rick Rude could've still fit in enough to get at least a short run against Hogan. Unlike Steve Austin and Mick Foley, Rick Rude was considered a top star in the company on par with Ricky Steamboat, Ric Flair, and Sting, and Vader, and with the exception of Steamboat who went down with a career ending back injury only a few months after Rick Rude, all of those guys ended up working with Hogan. Flair was obviously first in line, then Vader, then the Dungeon of Doom guys. And of course Sting was his ally and involved with him during his early run in WCW, and then eventually the best WCW feud of the Monday Night Wars in 1997. But anywhos, my guess is that they would've delayed the Dungeon of Doom stuff long enough to have at least a short feud between Rick Rude and Hulk Hogan.

Hogan would of course win the feud, then after that, I can see Rick Rude leaving and heading back to the WWF.

From there, I agree with the Brain's idea of having Bret Hart feud with Rick Rude throughout the year. By 1995, Bret was done with Owen Hart and Bob Backlund, Bulldog wasn't a heel yet, and with the occasional matches with Diesel, Bret was mainly stuck with Hakushi, Jerry Lawler, and Isaac Yankem. After that he was stuck doing nothing for two months until he won the title from Diesel at Survivor Series. Then again if Rick Rude had come into the company early on in the year, we may have never got the Hakushi/Bret Hart matches and they may have just jumped into Bret Hart/Rick Rude. If they didn't go that route, I could see them immediatly putting Rick Rude into the Intercontinental Title program and pass aside Jeff Jarrett. And put Rick Rude up against Razor Ramon and later on Shawn Michaels. Or maybe he could've gotten involved in the Million Dollar Corporation/Undertaker feud. Instead of Taker/Kama, Taker/King Kong Bundy, Taker/IRS, etc. maybe Rude could've been the crown jewel in Dibiase's stable and challenge the Undertaker? And I'm sure he would've put on some stellar mid-card matches on Raw against the British Bulldog, 1-2-3 Kid, and Hakushi (when he turned babyface).

I honestly don't think that Rick Rude would've won the title though. At that point in time, Vince was still in the mindset of having a dominant babyface as champion. Yokozuna was the lone exception. I think Rude would've had a title match or two against Diesel, and then Bret Hart when he won the title (maybe we would've gotten Hart/Rude for the title at the Royal Rumble instead of Bret/Taker?). We also would've probably got a Shawn Michaels/Rick Rude matchup at one of the ppvs in 1996 (maybe the July In Your House ppv when HBK just teamed with Sid and Ahmed Johnson in the 6 man tag). Despite being a top contender to three babyface world champions (Diesel, Bret Hart, and HBK), ultimately he would've never won the title.

But I do think that Rick Rude would've joined Yokozuna, Owen Hart, and the British Bulldog, aka: Camp Cornette as one of the top heels in the company.


What could've been?

 

[sikkbones]

can u imagine an uninjured healthy ric rude wrestling on raw and making the nitro jump the same way he did in 1997?

wrestling on one show as he made his announcement on the other... as epic as the jump was this would have made him even more epic... esp. if he had turned face with it and went after the NWO after his speech.

 

[SinCityBlitz]

Rude would have got lost in the Hogan shuffle. WCW was kissing Hogan's ass so much that unless you were a part of his clique they didn't do much with you. Rude wasn't part of his clique and he wasn't shy about telling people what he thought.

I see Rude going back to the E and he would have been perfect as a wrestler in the attitude era. I am not sure if he would have been world champ but he would have been a main event guy no doubt.

I REALLY hope that Vince brings out a DVD set on Rude. IMO one of the most underrated heels ever. I watched the guy since his WCCW days and few have done it better.

 

[obamartins]

I think Rick Rude would have stayed in WCW & feuded with Hogan. BTW before his inury he was set to feud with Vader in WCW.

I have never heard of his probelms with Hogan backstage but it sure didn't stop him siging with WCW in late 1997. So what legit source states that Rude had heat with Hogan?

Also i don't know how many of you guys know he was actually going to make a comeback in 1999 before his death. One day he showed up at a show after months off & was huge muscular wise - i think if i recall Scott Hall told the story in his PW Torch interview. Rude saw how popular wrestling was & wanted a slice of the action.

 

[justtxyank]

There is no reason to believe that Rude or Hennig had any beef with Hogan.

I know people often cite that Hennig didn't win the WWF title when he joined the promotion from the AWA, but nothing in Hennig's history shows that this was some source of conflict with him and Hogan. He and Hogan worked in the XWF after the fall of WCW and he was brought into WCW and pushed at the top of the card, something that wouldn't have happened if he and Hogan allegedly had this personal beef between them.

 

[FlairFan2003]

Rude was actually getting a major face push vs Vader when he was injured, that likely would have changed when Hogan arrived. Like Sting, he would have been pushed into the background for the revivial of Hogan & Savage vs Flair. However, Rude would have given the company one other legit star to fued with Hogan oher than Flair and Vader (Hogan & Vader were disappointing in terms of ratings & money, Hogan also feuded briefly with some heel version of Brutus Beefcake, disaster).

However, Hogan wasn't losing the strap anytime soon (he was originally supposed to lose it to Flair in their first re-match but nixed the idea at the last second, this was to create major buzz for their third match, the tie breaker, with Hogan going over). Rude would have been like Vader.

Now if Rude was still there when the NWO hit that might have been interesting.

 

[jpickens]

Let's say if things were different and Rick was still healthy and he did go to the WWF he wouldn't have gone any higher than the intercontinental championship singles wise or would've been one half of the world tag team champions because the Kliq and their politics would've kept him out of the main event scene.

 

[RicoLen]

Note to The Brain: You might consider splitting the thread here. Reason being this is going to derail the conversation quite a bit, yet it'll still make for a good discussion.

RicoLen, I always love to read your input man. I have to say your stuff is a great read especially when considering you’re a fan of the same generation as I. And don't get me wrong, my being a Hogan-mark might hurt my credibility on challenging you on this topic. But I am not sure how exactly Hogan ever buried Hennig. Again, I don't like citing tell all books, shoot interviews or WWE produced DVDs as my rationale for having such opinions. While such media is a great view, listen and read, I really can't find such things to be 100 percent credible as far as information goes.

No, and I agree about the books and such, however, if you don't use those what DO you have in regards to anything? Kayfabe, and in Kayfabe, Hulk Hogan & Ric Flair don't have a problem with Bret Hart. And we know THAT's not true.

There's an upside and a downside to tell-all books and shoot interviews (I would never trust a WWE produced DVD to be objective about anything). The upside is that you get a personal, out of character view of what happened during a certain event.

For the sake of argument let's talk about the Montreal Screw Job because there's just SO MUCH information about it.

The Wrestling with Shadows DVD & Bret Hart's tell-all book give a whole lot of great information about what happened behind the scenes at Survivor Series '97. It gives audio and video footage of conversations about how Vince was telling Bret Hart that they could finish the match however he wanted to, and then obviously going back on his word.

The downside is that you're only getting one side of the story. With tell-alls & shoot interviews it becomes a he said she said kind of deal. So some, or most, or sometimes maybe even all of what is said is completely accurate, you just never know.

So I get it, it's hard to fall back on those kinds of things as a source of credible information. However, some of the information IS good, and when you get it backed up by other sources (people) then you're in a situation where an attorney and the US Legal system will accept the given heresay story.

That's still not without it's own problems, but it's a lot better than getting one story from one guy and getting a different story from another. If two independent sources are giving the same information to back it up, it's usually accepted as truth so long as there's no concrete evidence to dispute it.

It is what is it. I wouldn't call that a great system for finding out the truth, but it's a frequently used model that the U.S. Legal system uses itself. So when it comes to wrestling, I'm more than willing to accept that I might be just passing on heresay, but if there are a number of different sources making the same claim, then I'll go with it, though without 100% conviction in my own words.

The claims have been made by a number of people that Hogan did not want to drop the belt to Perfect.

Getting back on point, during this time frame you’re speaking of, Ultimate Warrior was being groomed to take Hogan's spot. Prior to that Warrior had his feud with Rude over the IC strap and as we know that eventually led to WM VI with Warrior beating Hogan. Would I have preferred to see a Hogan-Hennig title feud in lieu of a Warrior and Hogan one? You darn betcha. Especially considering how Warrior fizzled out. But despite the fact Hennig and Hogan did not have that WrestleMania caliber matchup. They at least had a brief feud during Hogan's second reign, where Hennig's heel tactics got to be seen on the main event stage against Hogan. Therefore I can't really say that I agree with your opinion that Hennig was being buried by Hogan. I would have definitely liked to see Hennig win the World Title myself, but I don't think I can necessarily blame Hulk Hogan for that one. Especially when you consider that there was this apparent desire on the WWF’s part to make Ultimate Warrior the new focal point of the promotion. Plus we also have to remember Hennig's health in the earlier 90s. During that time it was deteriorating because of his back problems. That really hurt Hennig's momentum. After SummerSlam '91 the guy couldn't wrestle for a whole year and after that his comeback was still short lived by comparison to his earlier years as AWA World Champion and WWF IC Champion.

Warrior being groomed as a successor to Hulk Hogan is akin to saying The Miz is being groomed as a successor to John Cena. The problem with this is that there can be a CM Punk that gets in the way of how things supposedly are going to happen, AND you can also have multiple people being groomed as a successor. Perfect was that guy in AWA, and it's assumed that he was also in the WWF.

The popular story is that Hogan didn't like having Perfect always on his heels, and so made his case and got out of dropping the title to Perfect in favor of Warrior, and that was the first time the Perfect missed out on winning the WWF title, the second being as a result of his back injury.

I have a tendency to believe that story simply because it fits the character of Bollea, and also explains why Hennig would go from feuding with Hogan for the world title to just a few weeks later essentially being given the IC title for a nice long run that was cut short because 2 months prior to summerslam, he broke his tailbone and bulged some discs in his lower back. That match where he lost to Bret Hart? Perfect was already badly injured when he did it, it's another reason that's one of the best IC matches out there. It's like Kurt Angle winning the gold medals with a broken (fricken) neck, heheh.

The thing is that Hennig was on an unstoppable roll, was feuding with Hulk Hogan, never ever lost to Hogan, Hogan lost by DQ and kept the title. And then Perfect went almost immediately into his IC championship reign. That was pretty much never done, that someone would come in, have a 1 year undefeated streak, and feud for the world title straight away, and beat the Title holder, only to never get the belt and have to settle for a lesser title.

So, I respect your opinion, I can't say that I know the facts either. It's just my opinion that those stories are true, because I believe they fit. Maybe I'm wrong though.

 

[byrnside]

Once again, Brain you know what I like. I'm probably going to be extremely biased on this one because Rude was/is one of my favorite heels of all time.

I'm pretty sure Hogan would've come into WCW and probably would have had a decent feud with Rude leading up to his ultimate burial. At the time they were definitely prone to setting up Hogan as the underdog against a lot of giant characters, however there still were the matches with Flair etc. that were still pretty decent. I've always known that Rude could've curried Hogan to some crazy-good matches just like we saw with Warrior and I think that could've happened in WCW. I'd think that Rude would've gotten pissed that they signed Hogan and would bail as soon as he got the chance, hopefully after carrying Hogan through some of those aforementioned matches without being completely buried. One way or another I would assume that Rude would've gone back to WWE or maybe even ECW which he did do if [I'm not mistaken] before showing up as a part of DX. The way things were going in 93-96 there's no doubt we would've gotten a main event challenger in Rick Rude. Bret Hart has said numerous times that he was very close with Rude and they would've put on some classic matches for the WWE title, there's no doubt in my mind about that. I'm also drooling over possibilities with feuding against The Undertaker, HBK, Razor Ramon, Diesel, the British Bulldog, perhaps even Mr. Perfect

I read somewhere that he was working to make a comeback in '97-'98 which always makes me sad to think about. Rude was truly one of the greatest. Hall of Fame worthy for sure.

 

[Big Sexy]

I'm going to play Devil's advocate here. As much as I liked Rude and would have loved to see him in the WWE in the mid 90's as a main event heel, I'm not so sure the WWE would have felt the same way. Rude was one of the guys who testified in the 1994 trial admitting that he used steroids and obviously that is something that would have probably delayed him coming to the WWE as a full time in ring performer. Another reason the WWE may have passed is because they were trying to stick with the younger performers. A late 30's Rude wouldn't have fit the bill with the direction they were going.

Best case scenario is Rude comes back in 1995 due to his friendship with Hart and has a high mid card feud with him but never really does much in terms of the main event. It still would have been a great feud and much better then the ones that Bret had with veterans like Jean Pierre Lafitte and Jerry Lawler but still nothing that would have propelled him to main event status. Once that feud was through he would have gone on to be an enhancement veteran like Mr Perfect and Jake Roberts were during that time.

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

This guy IS my favourite wrestler from the past.. I wasn't even born when this guy used to wrestle! He had EVERYTHING in my opinion.. Just the perfect heel, played his role very well, I got to watching most of his matches on Vintage Collection, If he was going to have a World title reign in the late 80's, I don't think Ted DiBiase should have gotten it first.. Did he need a world title reign? maybe not, who knows, but he was still arguably the best heel when he was around. He was wrestling at a time when Hogan was king of wrestling, who else would have gotten a title run? and if someone did, it would have been short anyway, In WCW this guy got US title reign over a year, and was actually IN THE MAIN EVENT! He never actually held the WCW world title, I believe this was the time Ric Flair took the title away? I'm not sure, but they introduced a short lived International world title which he held, no doubt if he had not gotten injured, he would have had more title runs..

If anything, I think he should have defeated Ultimate Warrior at SummerSlam 1990.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Good question.

Rude was doing fantastic in WCW when the injury happened, since he still had time before Hogan came I think he would have gotten at least 1 run as WCW champion in late '93 early '94 ish. When Hogan came in he would have been one of the many heels who basically became Hogan fodder (hell Hogan and Savage beat SEVEN men at one point, Hogan lost to NO ONE even Vader during that time). After that he probably would have went back to WWF and sadly became a mid carder.

Unfortunately around early '95 even though they had few main event heels the big feud was Shawn Michaels vs. Diesel and that wouldn't have changed since they were pushing Diesel to the moon at that point. After Michaels they put Diesel with monster heels like Sid and Mabel so as crappy as it sounds, I don't think the WWF would have changed that even though Rude would have been a better opponent.

Luckily we could have seen a Rick Rude vs. Bret Hart feud which would have been great but I think he would have been stuck in mid card AGAIN since they were pushing younger guys, even Perfect didn't get a main event shot when he was healthy, I don't think Rude would have been any different and lastly probably transferred into a manager role for HHH or something.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I think had he remained healthy, Rude would have become World Champion somewhere, he certainly had the talent for it and I would have been very surprised if neither WWE or WCW had given him a run as Champion, although the same could be said for both Mr Perfect and Davey Boy Smith.

I don't think Rude would have stayed in WCW after Hogan arrived, he famously did not like Hogan for refusing to put him over in WWE, and I think the Rude persona would have fitted perfectly with the WWE "Attitude" switch in the mid to late 90s. If he had come back to the WWE in around 1996, the level of main event talent was pretty dire with people like Mabel/old Backlund etc getting pushes in the previous years. Rude was a level far above this, and I would love to have seen a Bret Hart v Rick Rude feud for the title, with Rude as the heel. Their matches would have been fantastic.

If he could have remained healthy, Rude would definitely have had a major part to play in the wrestling business throughout the 90's, and towards the end of the decadde could have moved more into managing a stable "The Rude Boys" or something along those lines. He is a big loss to the business

 

[RicoLen]

Well it's like I said earlier in this thread, Perfect & Rude were the original Eddie & Benoit.

Imagine if they had BOTH stayed healthy... The potential with both of them in the same company together and healthy would have been huge. Just imagine having Perfect & Rude in on the same scene as The Hitman, Owen, HBK, Razor & Diesel in 1993-1996. I might not have turned to WCW if those two were added into that mix. I always wanted to see a new feud between Perfect & Owen, and Rude vs Diesel could have been pretty damned good, because they would have made great foils for each other given their personalities. Perfect vs Rude could have been pretty interesting too.