Bruce Prichard On Rick Rude Being Chosen To Face Ultimate Warrior At SummerSlam 1990, Rude And Warrior’s Relationship, Frustrations That Led To Rude Leaving WWE

In the most recent edition of Something to Wrestle, Bruce Prichard discussed the SummerSlam 1990 main event between The Ultimate Warrior and Rick Rude, why Rude was chosen as Warrior’s first big title defense, Rude’s frustrations with the company, and much more. You can read his comments below.

On why Rude was chosen as Warrior’s first big title challenger: “Because he’d been able to do it with Warrior before. It was an opportunity to put Rick into that upper echelon where Rick felt he should be – frankly where we all felt he should be. Warrior and Rude had good chemistry in the ring and it was an opportunity – it was a coming-out party for Rick Rude too. It wasn’t just Warrior’s first title defense, this was the first time you were seeing Rick in a top spot being able to carry that. And I think Rick did carry it. Rick was an unbelievable talent, especially in his ability to get guys like Warrior over.”

On Rude’s relationship with Warrior ahead of their SummerSlam 1990 match: “Rude knew what his job was. And Rude knew he was there to get this guy over. That was his job. But did Rude like him? No, he didn’t. Rude did feel disrespected and felt ‘I’m doing all this work for you and you’re reaping all the reward.’ So yeah, a little resentment might be accurate.”

On where the SummerSlam 1990 match with Rude ranks among top Warrior matches: “It has to be in the top five. Rude always was able to get a lot out of Warrior and be able to carry him to a decent match. In this case, it was no different. It was a good match and a different style match for Warrior. And you believed that Rude was a good adversary for Warrior. And you believed Rude could beat him. So that to me is what made the match so good. You believed it, you felt it, and it just wasn’t somebody in there for Warrior to beat.”

On Rude’s frustrations that led to him leaving the company: “I don’t think Rick liked being second fiddle. That’s my words, not his. I don’t think he liked not being the top heel and having everything focused around him. Rick really wanted to be the guy. And also, it comes down to money. For Rick, kind of felt he brought Warrior to that point, and took the next step to get him over even stronger to the audience. So he felt he should’ve been paid equally, if not more than what Warrior was making.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Something to Wrestle with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.