WWE Champions Profile: Buddy Rogers
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Buddy Rogers was the original “Nature Boy” and one of the founding fathers of modern wrestling. Whether it was in the NWA or the WWWF, his flamboyant character and exciting style made him a true pioneer.
Herman Gustav Rohde Sanchez Jr was one of the first wrestlers to be described as the “Total Package”, he had an amazing physique, a great character and stage presence. As well as a good in ring technique.
Rogers developed the “Nature Boy” gimmick, the arrogant blonde heel and used it to great success, after beating his opponents he would confidently quip; “To a nicer guy, it couldn’t happen”. Furthermore, He also used “flying moves” which at the time referred to anything off the mat, both of these are two deep rooted aspects of the modern day wrestling.
Rogers left the NWA in 1963 to join Vince McMahon Snr and his World Wide Wrestling Federation. Rogers was named the first WWWF Champion. WWWF claimed that Rogers won a tournament in Brazil; it is highly unlikely the tournament ever took place. (WWF claimed the same, when Pat Patterson was crowned the Intercontinental Champion, it is essentially an inside joke).
Unfortunately, Rogers run with the WWWF championship barely got off the ground. Rogers suffered a heart attack and lost the title 17 days later to the legendary powerhouse Bruno Sammartino in 48 seconds at Madison Square Garden.
Buddy Rogers will always be the first WWE Champion, but perhaps he would be better remembered for the role he played in the revolution of pro wrestling and creation of wrestling as we know it today. Rogers helped establish wrestling on TV, took the style beyond boring mat grappling and conceived a heel gimmick that would later be copied by a young man named Richard Fliehr (Who would go onto become the 16xWorld Champion, Buddy Rogers would return to the ring in 1978 to take on Ric Flair in a “Battle of the Nature Boys” this is where Flair coined the term “To be the man, you’ve got to beat the man”)
Bret “The Hitman” Hart had the honour of inducted the first ever WWE Champion into the Hall of Fame in 1994, two years after Rogers had sadly passed away.
This is the first blog in a new series where I will profile EVERY WWE Champion in the history of the promotion. Next time I will take a look at the historic career of Bruno Sammartino.
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