Bret Hart's Calgary Sun Column
for April 24, 1999
Mr. Richard Erwin Rood, AKA
(Ravishing Rick Rude), age 40, of
Alpharetta, GA, died (of a heart attack)
on April 20, 1999. He is survived by
wife, Michelle, daughter, Merissa,
Richard Ryan Rood and Colton
Rood.
Atlanta JournalConstitution
I can't believe the newstoday.
I'd like to close my eyes and make it go
away,How long must we sing this song?
(U2- Bloody Sunday)
I am a year his senior. We
traveled the same roads. Now he walks
with angels.There but for the grace of
God go I.
In any circle of friends and
phonies you take the good with the bad.
And the bad makes you appreciate the
good even more.
At the height of my road days,
when 300 fights in 300 towns/year was
normal, strangers became family
and family became strangers. You can't
pick your family but you can pick your
friends. Rick Rude was one of the best
picks I ever made. He was a real
friend.
It's not easy to make a bunch
of road weary toughians laugh but Rick
did. He always put a smile on my face
and everybody else's. He got a big kick
out of my drawings so this one's for
him, 'cause I think he'd like it.
He was a great family man. He
loved his wife. He was one of those kind
of guys who never took his wedding ring
off. He put a white piece of tape around
it when he went into the ring. He was
the kind of guy that when you needed
someone to back you up, he wouldn't
flinch at all. Not for money. Not for
anything.
When McMahon and his sidemen
barged into the dressing room in
Montreal, Rick was there. He was one of
the guys who refused to budge. Refused
to allow me to be put in a compromising
position. Rick Rude stayed there to make
sure my back was watched.
There were -- and are -- some
people who think the whole thing
that happened between McMahon and I was
a hoax.
Rick was the one
who called Eric Bischoff and said 'I was
there. I was in the room and this is
what happened.
When I was forming new business
relationships in WCW, Rude's call
protected me and saved me from a lot of
doubt because even Eric Bischoff had to
question whether this was a setup or
not. I was always grateful to Rick for
making that call and for being with me
in the room that day.
You statisticians, be sure to
note that Rick Rude is the only guy who
managed to appear on both Raw and Nitro
at the same time -- because Raw was
taped in advance on the night Rick
showed up for a live Nitro and told the
world that what McMahon did to me was
real and wrong.
I'd like to think Rick was
defending me-and he was-but what he was
really defending was 'time honored
tradition.' The irony is that at the
height of his popularity Rick's
Ravishing character, the sexy playboy
with the gyrating hips, caused a stir
with some conservative viewers, which
Rick actually found amusing and took as
a compliment because it was sort of like
being compared to
Your kids could watch him. Mine
did. They looked up to Rick Rude as a
great wrestler and when he came to visit
our house they found out he was also a
great
man.
I don't know if there's any
great cosmic reasoning that can help a
kid understand why dad is in another
place I only know that while he was
here, Rick Rude was a great role model
to his kids, to kids around the world,
and to those who forgot that how you
play the game is more important than
winning it. But make no mistake about
it, Rick Rude was a winner.
Rick was World Class
Heavyweight Champion in the southern
U.S. when McMahon signed him at the
height of the 80s wrestling
boom.
He was a successful
Intercontinental Champion during a hot
feud with the Ultimate Warrior which
culminated in a World Title cage match
at SummerSlam 90. Rude lost.
He went to WCW and held the U.S.
title, beating a feisty, up and coming
guy then known as 'Stunning' Steve
Austin. No doubt Stone Cold learned a
lot wrestling against Ravishing Rick
that day.
And... Rick Rude beat The Hitman
the only time I ever fought him .(Italy,
1989). I was making the transition from
tags to singles and I don't know if it
was that Rick wanted to see what I had
or show me what I needed. I always knew
he was tough but that's the day I found
out that he always gave 110% no matter
how small the town or if the cameras
weren't rolling. Ravishing Rick Vs The
Hitman is one of those rare lost
classics.
I was going to say I'd
giveanything to be at the strategy
meeting I know they're having but.......
I'll stay here and be a "fat, out of
shape, sweathog" just trying to do
what's right.
And what's right is not to let
what they lived for -- and died
for-decay any further, until there's no
respect left for wrestling's fallen
heroes.
I don't believe it's all for
nothing,
It's not just written in the
sand,
Fallen Angel
Casts a shadow up against the
Sun,
If my eyes could see,
The Spirit of the chosen
one,
In my dream the pipes were
playin'
In my dream I lost a
friend
Come down Gabriel and blow your
horn
'Cause some day we will meet
again
Bret Hart's Calgary Sun Column
for October 11, 1997
A lot of guys live for this
bizarre business. That might not be
their intention but they fall in love
with her and by the time love turns to a
familiar seductress, they're
addicted.
Addicted to the action and the
admiration. Accustomed to a lifestyle
where the miles behind you in the
morning deceive you into thinking you're
unaccountable for what you did last
night. There's no off season, no time
out. Valor gets attached to
martyrdom.
You look for ways to endure the
physical pain of a broken body and hope
you don't become so numb that you end up
with a broken spirit.
In
the ring you're a superhero and you
search down deep inside to make that
strength real. It's dangerous to forget
that even Superman has his
kryptonite.
Guys come into this business with
a dream that they'll hang around for a
few years and make the quick bucks but
then they find out it's Hotel
California, "You can check out any time
you like but you can never leave." They
can't make it on the outside any more.
And some die on the inside. Fatalities
in the ring are rare. They die, alone,
in the little square room they slept in,
a thousand miles from what used to feel
like home.
The boys and the crew checked
out of the hotel near St. Paul last
Sunday and each of us traveled all the
way to the building (arena) in St. Louis
before anyone asked, "Where's Brian?".
We didn't even know we'd left him
behind.
It's been almost a week since my
friend, Brian Pillman, died in his
sleep.
It amazes me that fans and
reporters are anxiously awaiting the
results of the autopsy to find out what
killed him. Exactly which pain medicine
was it, how much did he take? What
weakened the heart of a 35 year old
athlete enough so it stopped
beating?
Trying to figure out the little
details distracts you from having to
look at the big picture. The business
killed Brian Pillman and it could have
been any one of us. That she got Brian
is especially sad since he fought so
hard at life when he beat cancer as a
kid.
And since he left five kids with
no father. I don't think it's necessary
or appropriate to summarize Brian's life
and career in the space of a
column.
When my own time comes I hope the
reports will say more than just my
win/loss record in the ring and that
they'll talk more about my wins and
losses in life. I've tried to let you
all get to know me better than just my
stats. I won't insult Brian by reducing
him into a bunch of statistics.
Of course he was a dam good
wrestler -- he came right out of the
infamous Hart
family dungeon!
If you want to see the best of
Brian Pillman, the wrestler, go and get
yourself some tapes of Bad Company or
The Hollywood Blondes or how Flyin'
Brian fought Ric Flair to a time
limit draw years ago.
If you never got to know the best
of Brian Pillman, the person, the thing
that stood out most, to me, about Brian
was his wicked sense of humor. It isn't
easy to make a bunch of road weary guys
who have "been there, done that" laugh
-- and Brian did. Then again, they say
clowns have the most pain
inside.
The next time someone asks
you why you watch wrestling cause that
stuff isn't real -- those guys don't get
hurt, do me a favor. Tell them those
guys do get hurt -- and sometimes they
die out there.
