Butch Reed

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Butch Reed
Birth nameBruce Franklin Reed[1]
Born(1954-07-11)July 11, 1954[2]
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.[2]
DiedFebruary 5, 2021(2021-02-05) (aged 66)
Warrensburg, Missouri, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Central Missouri[3]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Bruce Reed[2]
Butch Reed[3]
Doom #2[4]
Billed height6 ft 2 in (188 cm)[3]
Billed weight262 lb (119 kg)[3]
Billed fromKansas City, Missouri[3]
Trained byRonnie Etchison
Debut1978
Retired2013

Bruce Franklin Reed (July 11, 1954 – February 5, 2021) was an American

World Wrestling Federation (such as the first Survivor Series main event) and World Championship Wrestling (where he held the championship with Ron Simmons, as Doom
).

Early life

Reed attended the University of Central Missouri, where he played college football.[5] In 1976, he signed as a rookie free agent with the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League, but the linebacker was cut before the season.[3][6][7]

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1978–1983)

Butch Reed was trained to wrestle by Ronnie Etchison debuting in 1978. Early on he wrestled as Bruce Reed adopting the "Hacksaw" nickname over time. Reed and

Dory Funk, Jr. and David Von Erich in 1982.[8] Reed wrestled mainly for the NWA in the early 1980s and made a name for himself in their St. Louis, Florida Championship Wrestling and Georgia Championship Wrestling territories. On April 7, 1982, Reed had what is now recognized as the first 5-star rated match by Dave Meltzer in which he challenged Ric Flair
for the NWA title in Miami, Florida.

Mid-South Wrestling (1983–1986)

Reed established himself as a force to be reckoned with while competing in

turned
face. This resulted in Reed's heel turn when Duggan was picked to be the Junkyard Dog's tag team partner over Reed.

Reed appeared on TV stating that "Butch Reed is going to start looking out for Butch Reed", which prompted the Junkyard Dog (JYD) to join him in the ring. After arguing back and forth, Reed attacked JYD and was soon joined in the attack by DiBiase. On July 16, 1983, Reed won the

Krusher Khruschev, and Magnum T. A. The fans picked JYD but Reed dismissed the choice; he also said Duggan and Khruschev did not deserve a shot and instead gave the title shot to T.A., who won the title, then lost it twelve days later to Nikolai Volkoff.[8]

On the same night that Reed lost the North American title, he and partner

Mid-South Tag Team Championship.[8] After a few weeks, the North American title was returned to Reed, claiming that the title match with T.A. was not legal since the fans chose JYD. Reed's run as a double champion did not last long as JYD got his title shot with Dusty Rhodes as the special guest referee.[8] After losing the North American title, Reed and Neidhart focused on the tag team titles and defended them against all comers. When Magnum and Mr. Wrestling II challenged for the titles, they felt that the challengers had to put up something of their own: Mr. Wrestling II's mask. Mr. Wrestling did not unmask that night as they took the gold from Reed and Neidhart in a Steel cage match on Christmas of 1983.[8]
Neidhart and Reed started to blame each other and had a short, brutal feud.

The Neidhart feud was soon replaced with one with

Sonny King and later Ernie Ladd to team with Junkyard Dog. After the tag matches, came brutal singles matches such as Dog Collar Matches
.

Just as the feud was about to reach its heated highlight, the Junkyard Dog left Mid-South and signed with the

Steve Williams, and Hercules. The two Hacksaws were successful at first, until Reed came up against Kamala
. He proved to be too much for Reed, beating him all over the Mid-South territory before Reed quietly left.

Reed went to the American Wrestling Association for a short stint as Jimmy Garvin's bodyguard, then returned to Mid-South in the middle of 1985. In October, he beat Dick Murdoch for the North American title.[8] Around this time, he had a famous one-hour time-limit draw with NWA Champion "Nature Boy" Ric Flair and feuded with Dick Slater when Slater helped Ric Flair keep the world title. In January 1986, Slater won the North American title from Butch Reed through underhanded means.[8]

NWA Central States (1986)

After leaving Mid-South Wrestling once more, Reed returned to Kansas City and the NWA Central States territory run by Bob Geigel. Here he initially teamed with Rufus R. Jones . He later turned on Jones and joined the group of manager Slick in 1986. After a brief feud with Jones, Reed feuded with Bruiser Brody. That summer, he lost a Loser Leaves Town match to Brody and left the territory along with Slick.

World Wrestling Federation (1986–1988)

Reed and Slick signed with the WWF and were brought in as a package.[9][self-published source] Reed dyed his hair blond and became "The Natural" Butch Reed, an updated version of Sweet Daddy Siki.[10] He feuded initially with Tito Santana, a target of Slick's verbal jabs, and made his pay-per-view debut at WrestleMania III, where he defeated Koko B. Ware.[11]

In the weeks after WrestleMania, Reed targeted new Intercontinental champion Ricky Steamboat and faced him at house shows and on an episode of Wrestling Challenge.

In the fall, the WWF was heavily hyping a feud between Reed and

Superstar Billy Graham, a former WWF champion who was staging a comeback after hip-replacement surgery. Graham's condition was such that he could no longer handle the physical demands of being a wrestler, so Reed and Slick's newest acquisition, the One Man Gang, "injured" Graham in a sneak attack that was used to explain his permanent retirement. Graham began managing the man who came to his aid, Don Muraco, with Muraco immediately entering into a rivalry with Reed. The enemies were on opposing teams in the main event of the first Survivor Series (Muraco took Graham's place on Hulk Hogan's team); Reed (a member of André the Giant's team), was the first elimination of the match, by Hogan.[12]

Reed competed in (and was the first wrestler eliminated from) the

diving elbow drop off the top turnbuckle for the win. This first round loss at WrestleMania IV was Reed's final match for the WWF.[13]

On September 9, 2007, Reed made a

SmackDown!, during a segment involving his former manager and SmackDown! General manager Theodore Long
.

Jim Crockett Promotions / NWA World Championship Wrestling (1988–1992)

See also: Doom

Shortly after WrestleMania IV, Reed and the WWF parted ways,

Sting at the Chi-Town Rumble on February 20, 1989.[15]
During the summer of 1989, he floundered in the mid-card as Jim Crockett Promotions grew to become a national wrestling organization.

The

Clash of the Champions IX, looking very strong in the process.[17]

Doom's next PPV outing did not come with the same success. Along with the Steiner Brothers, the

Clash of the Champions X, Doom were defeated by the Steiner Brothers and as a result of the stipulation were forced to unmask.[19]

Doom beat the Steiner Brothers

Sting and Lex Luger[23]
in a match that foreshadowed the trouble that lay ahead.

On February 24, 1991, at WCW's

Clash of the Champions XX[26]
but left WCW for good shortly afterwards.

Late career (1992–2002, 2005–2013)

After leaving WCW, Reed went to the

Todd Champion.[8]
He left the promotion before 1992 ended.

Reed next appeared for a notable promotion in 1994, the Global Wrestling Federation in its last days. He became the penultimate GWF North American champion on June 4, 1994, when he beat Rod Price for the held-up title. It had been held up the previous day after a match he had with Price got out of hand and ended inconclusively.[8] He held it for almost a month before losing it to "Gentleman" Chris Adams, who was the last GWF North American champion.[8]

Reed continued to work on the independent scene on a part-time basis so that he could participate in the rodeo circuit in Kansas City. In 2000, he started working for Harley Race's WLW promotion. He beat Luminous Warrior for the WLW Heavyweight Title on March 31, 2001[27] and held the title until Dennis McHawes beat him for it on January 25, 2002.[27] After losing the title, he retired from wrestling.

After being retired for three years, Reed returned in 2005, appearing several times for Mid States Wrestling and eventually defeating Heavyweight Champion "Mr. Saturday Night" Michael Barry on November 11, 2005, for the Mid States Wrestling Heavyweight title. He also participated in the "Legends of Wrestling" tour in 2006. On August 18, 2007, he lost to Steve Williams at NWA Legends Fanfest.

Reed's last match was on May 18, 2013, teaming with

Bob Orton Jr and losing to Flash Flanagan and Ron Powers at SICW in East Carondelet, Illinois.[28]

Personal life and death

In July 2016, Reed was named part of a class action lawsuit filed against WWE which alleged that wrestlers incurred traumatic brain injuries during their tenure and that the company concealed the risks of injury. The suit was litigated by attorney Konstantine Kyros, who has been involved in a number of other lawsuits against WWE.[29] In September 2018, the lawsuit was dismissed by US District Judge Vanessa Lynne Bryant.[30]

On February 5, 2021, an Instagram post from Reed's official account announced his death from complications of two heart attacks that occurred in January.[31] His relatives attributed his death to COVID-19, and said he tested positive around January 12. He was 66 years old.[5]

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ISBN 978-1-4931-8238-1
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7864-1754-4
    .
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Butch Reed". WWE.com. WWE. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  4. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Doom". Cagematch.net. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Eley, Jessica (February 7, 2021). "Family mourns former WWE, WCW wrestler, Warrensburg native, Butch Reed". FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  6. Newspapers.com
    .
  7. ISBN 1-4402-2810-8.[permanent dead link
    ]
  8. ^
    ISBN 978-1-55022-683-6
    .
  9. ISBN 978-1-291-42878-0
    .
  10. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4165-3257-6
    .
  11. ^ "WWE WrestleMania History (III)". ProWrestlingHistory. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  12. ^ "WWE Survivor Series History (1987)". ProWrestlingHistory. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  13. ^ prowrestlinghistory.com. "WWE WrestleMania History (IV)". Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  14. ^ "NWA Clash of the Champions Results (VI)". prowrestlinghistory.com. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  15. ^ "NWA Chi-Town Rumble Results". ProWrestlingHistory. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  16. ^ "NWA Halloween Havoc Results (1989)". ProWrestlingHistory. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  17. ^ "NWA Clash of the Champions Results (IX)". ProWrestlingHistory. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  18. ^ "NWA Starrcade Results (1989)". ProWrestlingHistory. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  19. ^ "NWA Clash of the Champions Results (X)". ProWrestlingHistory. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  20. ^ "NWA Capitol Combat Results". ProWrestlingHistory. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  21. ^ "WCW Halloween Havoc Results (1990)". ProWrestlingHistory. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  22. ^ "WCW Starrcade Results (1990)". ProWrestlingHistory. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  23. ^ "WCW Clash of the Champions Results (XIV)". ProWrestlingHistory. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  24. ^ "WCW WrestleWar Results (1991)". ProWrestlingHistory. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  25. ^ "WCW SuperBrawl Results (I)". ProWrestlingHistory. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  26. ^ "WCW Clash of the Champions Results (XX)". ProWrestlingHistory. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  27. ^ a b "WLW Heavyweight Title history". wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  28. ^ "Butch Reed".
  29. ^ "WWE sued in wrestler class action lawsuit featuring Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka, Paul 'Mr Wonderful' Orndorff". FoxSports.com. Fox Entertainment Group (21st Century Fox). July 18, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  30. ^ Robinson, Byron (September 22, 2018). "Piledriver: WWE uses 'Hell in a Cell' as springboard to future shows". Montgomery Advertiser. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
  31. ^ Nature, Heel By (February 5, 2021). "Butch Reed Passes Away At Age 66". Retrieved February 5, 2021.
  32. ^ "Pro Wrestling History". prowrestlinghistory.com. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  33. ^ Saalbach, Axel. "Wrestlingdata.com – The World's Largest Wrestling Database". www.wrestlingdata.com.

External links

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