Plans for Rude had he not been injured?

I wonder if Rude would have stuck around as an upper midcard guy in the nWo? It’s been said that one of the reasons he originally left the WWF was due to being a jobber to the stars (as well as a pay dispute with McMahon), and went to WCW to get a shot at being a top guy (which he got).

Once Hogan and friends took over I have a hard time seeing him ok in a lesser role. Like someone else said maybe he goes back to the WWF to feud with Austin. Or maybe he still goes to ECW but as a performer and not a commentator.

I would have been pissed off they fed Rude to Hogan.

I can't stand Hogan and the Hulk up, block punch, three punches, big boot, leg drop combo.

I would have loved it if Rude went back to WWE. Worked as a heel against Hart, Austin, Taker etc. Those matches would have been much better than anything wcw chorus put on. Terrible booking at WCW

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for sure on rather him being in wwf instead. but either way he woulda gave us some great matches. like vader beats micheals for belt at SS96, like he shoulda, then rude comes back and does EXACTLY what he did in wcw and attack him with a chair and restarts the fued.

I would have liked to have seen Rude return to the WWF, I think a feud with him and Bret or Michaels or Razor would have been great. And had he stayed around, I think an Austin/Rude feud could have been doable in 1998 when Austin was the top guy. They probably could have given him the belt on a few occasions at that time, if i remember correctly Austin didn't hold the WWF title belt for very long stretches, they seemed to be more interested in screwing him out of the title than him winning it and holding it for a long run.

Despite not being recognized as a former world champ, I consider Rude one considering he was feuding with guys like Sting and Flair during his much underrated run. He looked great with the big gold belt.

Really his whole WCW run from 1991-1993 is underrated. The guy was killing it in the ring and was legit carrying WCW with Sting and Vader in 1992. His US Title feuds were great (Steamboat, Sting, Rhodes), and id argue that he should have been given the world title before that. Once he dropped the US Title he didn’t do too much until later in the year when he took the world title. And knowing he got hurt in the prime of his career is criminal considering he was just hitting his stride as a main eventer.

And I will always say that he should have beat Warrior in the cage for the WWF Title at SummerSlam 1990. Bret and others have stated that many saw Warrior as a flop by that point, and Rude would have been a far better heel to work with Hogan at WM7 than Slaughter.

I was cheering for Ultimate Warrior back then. I'm older now and appreciate the heels in pro wrestling. Rick Rude was a great champion and one of the most entertaining wrestlers of all time. I even remember his tag team days with Manny Fernandez and having matches with the Road Warriors.

We're speaking hypothetically had Rude never got injured in 1994 and continued as an active wrestler. Had he still been an active wrestler from 1994 through 1998/99, and not injured his neck, he probably would have still been in great shape when he could have feuded with Stonecold Steve Austin in the WWF. Though, you're correct, he would have had to alter his gimmick in the attitude era, seeing how a few guys were similar character wise. 

Even if Rude never suffered that injury, his heavy drug use wouldve shortened his in ring career at around that time anyway.

It’s interesting to hear what Bischoff has to say about Rude in his 83 Weeks podcast on Spring Stampede 1994. Essentially Eric was close with Rick before they had a falling out shortly before his death. Eric insinuates that the injury may not have been career ending as many believed, and felt that due to it happening before WCW gave out guaranteed contracts, that Rude decided to cash in on his Loyds of London insurance policy and retire for good.

However, once the nWo kicked off a new hot period in wrestling, Eric says that Rude was “desperate” to get back in the ring and wanted WCW to pay back Loyds of London (Eric says the policy payout was $350-$450K). Eric said WCW couldn’t do that, and Rude didn’t have the $ himself to pay it back (which is surprising considering one would think he made enough over his career to pay that off). Rude felt Eric could get WCW to pay it off since they were paying Hogan, Hall, and Nash that much, and that’s how the falling out occurred.

Either way it’s sad to hear how much he wanted to get back into wrestling but contractually couldn’t.