In 1991 WCW, there was very little that was "Ravishing" about Rick Rude. In fact, Rude as a member of Paul E. Dangerously's Dangerous Alliance was a wrestling machine, playing a very similar role to the role he played as the Ultimate Warrior's main event opponent in the WWF in 1990. There was something grittier about Rude when he wasn't a ladies man that Heyman-as-Dangerously was able to tap into that truly clicked in WCW, and this while his matches weren't blockbuster box office draws as they were presented in the WWF, they were more technically sound and perfect for WCW's wrestling-heavy alternative product. In many ways, as perfect as Bobby Heenan was as a foil for Rude as the lothario, Heyman worked better for Rude being portrayed as a "hard man," thus the connection Rude continued with Heyman into a brief ECW run as well. In being the perfect manager at the perfect time in Rude's career, Rude was an ideal Heyman protegee.
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.
