There should be absolutely no doubt in anyone's mind that the best wrestler in professional wrestling in 1990 was Rick Rude. In being tasked with - and succeeding in - having top-notch matches with the Ultimate Warrior (that make the Warrior look like a credible in-ring worker and champion, he cemented his legacy as one of the all-time greats. This era of Rick Rude is tremendously fun. Largely gone is "sexiest man alive" Rude, and what replaces him is who Richard Rood was as a shoot, a tough asshole who would kick your head in. Thus, Warrior's largely kick and strike-based in-ring style is complemented by Rude's ability to be just as willing to get down to fisticuffs, which makes for incredibly fun matches overall. Especially note the cage match at Summerslam 1990, one of the most criminally underrated matches of any era, ever.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
