'The Nature Boy' Buddy Landel was perhaps most famous for using a gimmick similar to another Nature Boy, Ric Flair. As you can see from the above picture, Landel had the Flair-esque blonde hair, the outlandish ring garb and also wrestled a similar style. Landel wrestled Slick Ric on numerous occasions in the eighties and early 90s. While a solid performer, Landel never really managed to cement himself as a top guy, in large part due to his personal problems. Landel reportedly began abusing drugs in the mid-80s and also had trouble with the IRS. Landel floated around the independents for the first half of the nineties until he was signed by WWE in late 95. Unfortunately for Landel, he suffered a torn quadriceps shortly after his televised debut, putting him out of action for over six months and essentially ending his career in the company. Following that, he kind of fell off the map a little and got deeper and deeper into drugs. Speaking of this time period, Landel said in a 2011 interview that:
I became so jaded at the world. I was taught by all these veterans that everything was a work and that everything was an angle - that everyone was marks but us. You get indoctrinated into that and you get cynical. You find yourself talking carney to your wife in a car lot. You become jaded. After a period of time, when wrestlings gone and the paychecks are gone, you become very bitter.
Landel had resurfaced in recent years, being inducted into the Legends Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame as well as appearing on Colt Cabana's Art of Wrestling podcast, where he discussed his career and personal highs and lows. Landel was involved in a car accident on June 21st, 2015. He was released from hospital and returned home, where he was found dead by Donna, his wife of 34 years. He was 53-years-old.
