Rick Rude Made the Entrance Part of the Contest

Rick Rude gives the audience a proper look. His opponent’s evening will resume when he’s finished.

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Rick Rude wanted quiet. Naturally, he had chosen to ask for it by insulting an arena full of people.

For anyone meeting the WWF's “Ravishing” Rick Rude in the late 1980s, that was a useful introduction. The robe stayed on while he took the microphone, dismissed the condition of the men in attendance and announced that the women deserved a better view. Then came the unveiling and the posing. He was in no hurry to let anyone else become the center of attention.¹

Imagine waiting across the ring through all of that. You have a match to wrestle. Rude appears to have an audience to accommodate. Apparently, your attempt to beat him will have to wait until everyone has had a proper look at his stomach.

There was a competitive problem beneath the vanity. An opponent could become so eager to wipe away that expression that landing the first punch began to feel more important than choosing the right one. Rude's entrance invited precisely that kind of impatience. Every extra moment spent admiring himself gave somebody else another reason to want to hurt him.

And dismissing him as an overdressed nuisance was dangerous. This was a man who took the Intercontinental Championship from Ultimate Warrior and later won the United States Championship from Sting. Whatever else you thought of him, the record required you to take him seriously.²

That made the arrogance particularly aggravating. It would have been much more convenient if he were all talk. Instead, the man who had just insulted your entire section could wrestle, and wrestle exceptionally well. You wanted someone to put him in his place. There was every chance he would win, then give you another opportunity to admire him.

Rude also understood how personal an insult could become. His pursuit of Cheryl Roberts, the wife of Jake “The Snake” Roberts, helped turn ordinary hostility into a bitter rivalry. Wearing her likeness on his tights brought the provocation into the ring with him. Jake had more to contend with than a difficult opponent.¹

The useful question, is whether you could have kept your own patience watching Rude pose you down. The best advice? Let him pose. Let him talk. Remember the match you came to wrestle.

Easy advice from an inner-city sweathog with a seat in the crowd. Rather harder when you were the one expected to get in there and shut him up.

Sources

1. WWE's 15 Primetime Playboys, Rick Rude section. Entrance routine, Cheryl Roberts and the tights.

2. WWE: Rick Rude biography. Championship victories over Ultimate Warrior and Sting.

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