Rick Rude' s Career Ending Match

[Squirrel Master]

Solid work put on by both men. Kudos to Rude for finishing the bout with a broken back; he was as tough as nails. What a great match, wish I was in Japan in the audience that fateful day.

[David-Arquette was in WCW 2000]

Such a shame for this to happen. Neither guy's fault, just that stupid raised area. He could've taken that bump on solid concrete and been fine.

[OGBoardPoster2005]

I'm just amazed he finished. That spot looks painful

[Alice Syndrome]

New Japan still puts the ring on not big enough raised platforms sometimes don't they?

Morons.

[Squirrel Master]

The pinfall was reminiscent of Ivan Koloff's WWWF World Heavyweight Title victory over Bruno Sammartino.

[thecrusherwi]

What really sucks is that this robbed us of the scheduled tweeter Rick Rude vs heel Vader match that was supposed to main event Slamboree 1994. I think that would've been great. If I'm not mistaken, the US public didn't know about the Rude injury until the PPV went on the air and they announced Sting as his replacement.

[Big Daddy Bad Booking]

May 14, 2018 9:03:30 GMT -5 OGBoardPoster2005 said:

I'm just amazed he finished. That spot looks painful

Almost willing to bet he was on pure adrenaline through this contest. The next morning on the other hand, not so much.

[Deleted]

Dude was in agony. Kind of amazing that he finished that match,

Rick Rude had the best physique in wrestling history. Goddamn.

[Vanilla Gorilla]

Such a shame to lose a talent like Rude due to injury, but damn man, how awesome was surfer Sting. My favorite wrestler when I was a kid and still way up there. A match like this shows how limited he was by the smaller WCW ring.

[Johnny D]

A face Rude would have been interesting to watch.

[tms]

Rude's pose in that preview shot looks like a post-match victory pose in the first 2 SF3 games.

[carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army)]

May 13, 2018 23:03:57 GMT -5 Squirrel Master said:

Kudos to Rude for finishing the bout with a broken back; he was as tough as nails.

Is this, um... something we should really be praising?

[Fade is a CodyCryBaby]

I'd never seen this before. Good God..I can't believe he finished the match.

[Redbeard's Ghost]

What always impressed me was that he didn't just finish the match, he took three more hard bumps on the outside, worked Sting into some leverage bumps, and then did a flying clothesline and a flying knee from the top rope. Amazing stuff.

[SmashTV]

Did Rude ever blame Sting or hold any ill will against him? It was a fluke injury, an unfortunate accident, but did Rude see it that way?

[Ryushinku]

Rude very much held ill will against Sting, he mentioned that many times in the years after. Blamed him for a reckless plancha.

Me, I agree with the consensus - the plancha was quick, but anything other than bad luck and that stupid little raised platform area means Rude takes that bump without a hitch. And yeah they do still use it on occasion, which baffles me.

It also wouldn't have been career ending if Rude had his way. But the Lloyds insurance payments were large enough to keep him out of the ring for a long time, and after that he started training for a comeback in '99 before unfortunately passing away.

It's actually a pretty good match, possibly the best one he had with Sting, and toughing it through that injury took a lot of guts.

[Ronny Rayguns Is All Elite]

May 15, 2018 17:43:49 GMT -5 carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army) said:

May 13, 2018 23:03:57 GMT -5 Squirrel Master said:

Kudos to Rude for finishing the bout with a broken back; he was as tough as nails.

Is this, um... something we should really be praising?

Yes he definitely should have received immediate medical attention after breaking his back, although it's still impressive he was able to keep moving around like that after such an injury

[Squirrel Master]

Does anyone know who was this valet Lady Love that accompanied Rick Rude to the ring? She has a good look, possibly of a caucasian-oriental mix.
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