5. He Was Loved by His Peers
“Ravishing” Rick Rude portrayed a heel inside the ring, but he was a beloved figure amongst his peers, respected as a legitimate tough guy and a strong family man. When Rick died unexpectedly, Bret Hart noted, “Rick Rude was anything but rude. In any circle of friends and phonies, you take the good with the bad. And the bad makes you appreciate the good even more… He was a great family man. He loved his wife. He was one of those kind of guys who never took his wedding ring off. He put a white piece of tape around it when he went into the ring.” Indeed, after the Montreal Screwjob, Rude went out of his way to support Hart, abandoning the WWF on that unforgettable night when he appeared on RAW in a taped segment and jumped over to WCW to appear live on Nitro.
