10 Ravishing Rick Rude WWE Hall Of Fame Moments
1. Intercontinental Champion
He held the United States title for longer in 1991, and reached the pinnacle of WCW in 1993, but no reign with a championship was any greater for Rude than a fabulous stint as WWE Intercontinental Champion in 1989.
Entering a feud with the just-about-unbeatable Ultimate Warrior at the start of 1989, the two were natural rivals with the maniacal Warrior basically portraying a subhuman version of the measured Rude.
With long hair and grandiose ripped physiques, the two were an almost perfect match, but Rick's heel persona at the time needed to employ sneaky tactics to take Warrior's beloved Intercontinental Title from him.
'The Ravishing One' was an ideal choice to restore some in-ring lustre to the gold over the summer months, with prior champions Warrior and Honky Tonk Man presenting an altogether different front for the secondary title than the likes of Randy Savage, Tito Santana and Ricky Steamboat had years earlier.
Handing Warrior his first televised pinfall loss at WrestleMania 5, Rude's victory was massive, despite Bobby Heenan holding the champion's foot down for the loss and Warrior being permitted to get his heat back immediately after the match. His airbrushed Intercontinental Title tights were also a worthy sequel to the Cheryl Roberts strides a few months prior.