Buddy Rogers (wrestler) - Legacy

Legacy

Rogers was considered the first total package wrestler. He had all the looks, physique, personality, and ability promoters wanted. He is often attributed with developing the psychology that several heels went on to use with great success, and with inventing the "Figure-Four Grapevine" (later renamed the Figure-Four Leglock).

Lou Thesz, Rogers' long-time colleague and frequent opponent, best described Rogers’ early impact in his memoir, Hooker: “Rogers is remembered by fans and performers alike as one of the top all-time stars in the business, but it’s probably not common knowledge just how influential he was… he broke into the business somewhere around 1941 as a hero-type personality, with little more going for him than a good body and natural charisma in the ring – which is actually a pretty good beginning – and he was a hit almost from the start. He had that indefinable something fans responded to, and he was sharp enough to build upon what he had, paying attention to what got a reaction from the fans. What evolved over several years was the ‘Nature Boy,’ the prototype of the cocky, strutting, sneering, arrogant peroxide blond villain that is almost a tired wrestling cliché today. Rogers invented the character, and I believe he did it better than anyone.

“He was also one of the first guys to rely a lot on what we called ‘flying’ moves in the ring – body slams, dropkicks, piledrivers, ricochets off the ropes into his opponent, action moves that are commonplace today. All of those moves were in use before Rogers came along, but they were used sparingly; most of the wrestling prior to Rogers’ emergence was done on the mat. Rogers was the first to use flying moves in quantity, staying off the mat, and the style was so popular with the fans that other wrestlers, including me, followed his lead.”

Another Rogers contribution to modern wrestling was his bombastic interviewing style. Wrestlers might talk, converse, with interviewers, but Rogers bragged, boasted about how great he was and how pathetic his opponents were. After winning the NWA championship from Pat O'Connor in Chicago in 1961, Rogers accepted the belt and then took the microphone and shouted, "To a nicer guy it couldn't happen!" This type of bombastic style went over well with the fans and has been followed ever since.

Rogers was not well liked during his prime years because he had a habit of taking advantage of opponents in the ring. During his prime years, he was known as much for his distinctive peacock-like strut as for his wrestling performance. He was also very skilled at drawing heat during interviews, with a smug "to a nicer guy, it couldn't have happened" being his catch phrase of sorts whenever he was victorious. He may have been the first authentic "charismatic" pro-wrestler, who, along with almost equally charismatic Bobby Davis, would use cruel, yet hilarious, put-downs of his opponents, such as "After I get through with him, he'll be back driving a garbage truck where he belongs." Almost like a tag-team of pseudo-arrogance, Bobby Davis would incredulously say of Roger's opponents that they didn't even deserve to be in the same ring as Rogers, bemoaning the fact that "This is a sport of Kings!"

According to Thesz, Rogers, although admittedly an excellent wrestler and a superb showman, was a manipulative schemer behind the scenes and was fond of saying in private: "Screw your friends and be nice to your enemies, so your enemies will become your friends, and then you can screw them too."

With age, however, Rogers mellowed and became a very respected veteran and spokesman for wrestling.

Rogers had one of the longest consistent top drawing periods of any main-eventer—15 years—and the ability to draw in several different territories successfully. In 1994, he was posthumously inducted into the World Wrestling Federation Hall of Fame.

Fellow professional wrestler Ric Flair throughout his whole career to the present day, adopted the "Nature Boy" gimmick from Buddy Rogers as a tribute to him. Even using Rogers' own signature move the Figure-Four Leglock as his own, Flair even went as far as doing his own variation of the Buddy Rogers strut as well.