Buddy rogers wrestler

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When professional wrestling fans hear the name "Nature Boy," one wrestler comes to mind - Ric Flair. However, Flair isn't the only Nature Boy in wrestling history, and he wasn't the first. While Flair was the most successful, he owes his nickname and much of his wrestling gimmick to the original Nature Boy, Buddy Rogers. Ric Flair was a time world champion according to WWE , although he won more than that when all his world titles are taken into account. However, that doesn't discount Rogers, who himself was a time world champion.

Buddy rogers wrestler

His performances influenced future professional wrestlers, including "Nature Boy" Ric Flair , who used Rogers's nickname, as well as his look, attitude and finishing hold, the figure-four leglock. He is one of three men in history to have held both championships, along with Ric Flair and AJ Styles. Rogers was the son of Herman Gustav Rohde Sr. He served in the U. Navy during World War II. Rogers also excelled in football, boxing, track and swimming, winning the YMCA's three-mile swimming championship in Rogers joined the Dale Brothers Circus as a wrestler at age He later worked at a shipyard, and became a police officer. Rogers visited the offices of professional wrestling promoters Ray and Frank Hanley, who gave him his first match on July 4, , against Moe Brazen, which he won. He continued his career in Houston , where he assumed the name Buddy Rogers. Rogers would get his first title during his tenure there, winning the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship four times, once from Lou Thesz , beginning a long feud between them both in and out of the ring.

However, after the plane crash that almost killed him, buddy rogers wrestler, Flair worked hard on his comeback and then returned to soon develop his new gimmick as the Nature Boy. Amazingly, Rogers almost returned to the ring one final time in

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When professional wrestling fans hear the name "Nature Boy," one wrestler comes to mind - Ric Flair. However, Flair isn't the only Nature Boy in wrestling history, and he wasn't the first. While Flair was the most successful, he owes his nickname and much of his wrestling gimmick to the original Nature Boy, Buddy Rogers. Ric Flair was a time world champion according to WWE , although he won more than that when all his world titles are taken into account. However, that doesn't discount Rogers, who himself was a time world champion.

Buddy rogers wrestler

Rogers is one of the seminal figures of the era that drew in so many parts of the United States not to mention his work in Montreal, Quebec. POST Wrestling: First off, what were some of the broad differences tackling a singular subject such as Buddy Rogers compared to some of your other books detailing the history of the NWA, the territorial system, etc.? My NWA book, and Death of the Territories , were vast projects centering on dozens of regional promotions and personalities, and it always felt like there was an infinite amount of stories to share. But once I got going, and started to apply fresh research techniques, it only opened up new avenues for information and made the book that much better. Altogether, though, writing a biography is a completely different beast than studying the history of an organization or era, and I really enjoy working on them. POST: What stood out with Rogers that made him such a captivating subject and did you find that history had not accurately reflected his legacy? Hornbaker: Buddy Rogers was a legend in and out of the wrestling ring.

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The third safeguard was Thesz, who could "take" the title if necessary. Retrieved December 7, Vincent J. Orville Brown Lou Thesz. This was probably due to his appearances for many years with the Al Haft Promotion who had their offices in Columbus. Hometown Camden, N. Professional wrestlers might talk and converse with interviewers, but Rogers bragged and boasted about how great he was and how pathetic his opponents were. The first safeguard was formatting the match as a one fall finish , rather than the traditional best two out of three falls. He had a broken arm and suffered three strokes, two of them occurring on the same day. Skip to main content. I never saw footage of him until later on after I became The Nature Boy. Retrieved November 15, Camden, New Jersey.

Following his retirement from the ring, Rogers continued to be a major force throughout the s and into the s as a successful manager and trainer. Initially, he competed as Dutch Rhode, gaining experience as a traditional, athletic local babyface. Whether he competed in tag teams, or especially as a singles wrestler, Buddy Rogers was among the most hated villains of his day, perhaps even the most hated.

At his own request [15] he was not placed on life-support and died on June 26, , at the age of Retrieved March 30, He had that indefinable something fans responded to, and he was sharp enough to build upon what he had, paying attention to what got a reaction from the fans. Superstar Stats Buddy Rogers. Orville Brown Lou Thesz. This was probably due to his appearances for many years with the Al Haft Promotion who had their offices in Columbus. After putting over Sammartino, his health problems forced Rogers to wrestle in only a limited number of short singles matches that lasted a minute or two. With wrestling getting television time, he bleached his hair blonde, wore robes to the ring, and exhibited a flamboyant, arrogant personality, often strutting in the ring. He started off wrestling as a child for the YMCA before moving on to work as a circus wrestler when he turned During the s, Rogers's main tag team partner was The Great Scott.