Top 25 Moves of 'Nature Boy' BUDDY ROGERS

Описание: The Father of Modern Wrestling

It is quite fair to say that without Buddy Rogers, wrestling wouldn't be what it is now.
He is one of the most influential wrestlers of all time. Influencing everybody, from Ray Stevens to Ric Flair, from Harley Race to Shawn Michaels, from Buddy Rose to Buddy Landell... Think of any bleach blonde heel strutting and bumping all over the ring in the last 60 years and you'll find Buddy's footprints. Outside of Billy Graham and, a fellow blonde heel, Gorgeous George, you'd be hard-pressed to find a person who has spawned more talent out of copying his gimmick and his in-ring skills than Rogers.

What Randy Savage was to the '80s and '90s of putting a match together, Buddy Rogers was that to the '50s and early '60s. While he wasn't really the first guy to do highspots, far from it, he did popularize a more cohesive and faster-paced execution of them, combining and using them regularly. He named them sequences. You'll be able to spot them in most of his matches: the Body Slam trade-off; the tackle, bounce off the ropes and get hit with a counter and the more back and forth action...
He innovated the Figure Four Leglock, a move that pretty much everyone and their mother has used since. Even fans at home tried it on someone. It's one of the most recognizable submissions in wrestling. And again, so many guys have used it, from his most successful copycat (though he denies being that) Ric Flair, to HIS own copycat, Buddy Landell, to yet another Flair copycat, Jay Lethal (though that was parody), The Miz, the Destroyer, Austin Idol, Jack Brisco etc.

Not only was he an innovator and had an excellent, and brutal, Piledriver, Buddy could work with anyone. He was very adaptable. Whether he needed to have a more technical match with O'Connor, face off with more of a brawler like Kowalski, have an epic battle with Thesz, or even return 15 years after his retirement to fight a new crop of talent like Flair - he was your man.

On top of his in-ring skills, he really put everything in his gimmick. From the way he looked (he was always in excellent shape), to the way he dressed, to the way he strutted, and last but not least, his promos. He lived the gimmick.
And he lived for the promos. Everybody knows his classic line: "There are a lot of imitators, many imitators, but there will never be another to duplicate me".
Guys weren't really focusing on their promo ability, but with the advent of TV, they had to. And he was the perfect guy at the perfect time, and honestly, most of the time, in the perfect place(s).
Texas was his home and that's where he had his first success as the Heavyweight champion, but it was his runs in Chicago, and later in the Northeast, that made him a god. He was the US champion in Chicago for Kohler, and there he had those battles with Lou Thesz, two matches that I highly recommend. It's a known thing that they didn't like each other, but boy did they have great chemistry. The perfect yin and yang.
He faced off with Pat O'Connor there and did great business with Bearcat Wright by the end of the decade.
Rogers was one of the top stars and a genuine, proven draw. Which is why NWA had to put that title on him, and in front of a record-breaking crowd of 38k, Buddy Rogers bested Pat to get it.
He was Vince McMahon's guy, which was clashing with NWA's schedule for their champion, so they had to do something about it. Who was one guy that they knew could take that title off him? Lou Thesz. After doing record-shattering business, Buddy had to go.
And then the whole title win in Brazil "happened", which everybody knows about, as well as his loss to Bruno, where Bruno was cemented as the guy in New York.

Due to many injuries and a heart problem, most likely due to his hard style, Buddy left the business.
He did come back in late '70s in Mid-Atlantic to face off against this new, up-and-coming guy, a self-proclaimed Nature Boy. So it had to be settled.
The Battle of the 'Nature Boys' happened and Flair won.
Buddy Rogers was there for Jimmy Snuka, another talented guy coming up. Teamed with him for a bit and then managed him. He even returned to New York to work as a manager and later hosted his Corner, one of the first wrestling talk show segments.

Buddy Rogers wasn't just a guy that people feel like they have to mention when talking about "stolen gimmicks", he innovated the modern, action-packed, high-risk style of professional wrestling. Even Lou Thesz praised him in his book for his in-ring skills and his money-drawing ability.

For over 15 years he was the most incredible talent in wrestling. Period.

Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
0:26 - Top 25
1:05 - Top 20
1:59 - Top 15
3:25 - Top 10
5:17 - Top 5

*This is an updated version of my top 10 Buddy Rogers moves video.

#wrestling #prowrestling #louthesz #chicago #dropkick #buddyrogers #natureboy #ricflair