Buddy Rose

[10.0] "Buddy Rose is one of the most brilliant wrestlers who ever lived. Everything he did was in service to the match he was in. Jaw-droppingly athletic for his size, a great bumper and stooger, mean as hell, a heat magnet who kept a small territory with a small roster and weekly TV as hot as a firecracker."

[8.0] "All things considered... One of the original pinball machine bumpers. Bouncing, flopping, flying, spinning and everywhere at once. Remarkable athleticism. Sharp, quick on his feet, able to tell a story with his body. Excelled at making others a star. Fantastic and very confident mic work. However... he gradually turned spherical and it became a distraction & impacted his work style negatively. He painted himself into a corner, he went full on cartoon character. I'm all for any type of body transformation that benefits a career, his did not: 7.5"

[5.0] "One of the original "Bumping like a madman" guys. This tub of bubblegum was still crazy athletic in the vein of Adrian Adonis when he let himself go."

[9.0] "I would say between 1977-1983, Buddy Rose was one of the best in the world. As both a Heel & as a in-ring performer, there were not too many who could top Buddy Rose. He was also excellent with promos, and he was one of the top wrestlers of the legendary Territory Days as he was the face of Portland Wrestling."

[10.0] "He was so good in his prime. People should watch his Portland tapes to see how great he was at building matches on TV every week."

[9.0] "One of the best heels of all time, and highly underrated by people who have only seen his late-career work. His work in Portland, and throughout the pre-Wrestlemania era, is some of the most rock solid stuff in wrestling history."

[8.0] "An amazing wrestler and great trainer. An innovator and an amazing bump machine, full of agility and he was even serviceable in the microphone"

[6.0] "His work in Portland and the AWA in the 70s and 80s is good, as he's best known for his selling. As his career went on and gained weight his work got worse and worse."

[8.0] "Extremely underrated pro wrestler. Rose's prime was spent in the Portland territory from the mid 1970's to early 1980's, along with a good run in the AWA in the mid 1980's to late 1980's. The team of Buddy Rose and Ed Wiskoski in Portland was great. Buddy Rose was such a great heel, that he turned Roddy Piper face in the Portland territory. Rose was great at drawing heat, could cut an excellent promo, and was very good in the ring as well. While I am glad he probably caught the biggest payday of his career in the WWF, I hate that he had to turn into a comedy act to do so. The Portland territory in general was an extremely underrated territory, and Rose was the most underrated of all during that era."

[10.0] "Genuinely one of the greatest of all time, his work in the Portland territory is beyond brilliant. Known better as a lower tier WWF jobber on the national level but he was one of the very best in that role as well and made his opponents look like pure gold."

[6.0] "Was okay in AWA. When I first got into Wrestling in 1991 and I started seeing stuff that people from school had tapped from the past year or so earlier his blow away diet Gimmick was the first thing I ever thought wass stupid in wrestling. That is unfortunately the lasting impression I have on him. I have seen his earlier stuff since then and it's not too bad."

[7.0] "Was very hot in the Pacific Northwest region. He sold out crowds and was spectacular in his early years. Also was great in his first stint in WWF and AWA with Doug Somers. Great at his moves the basics. Once he got overweight his performance level went downhill. I find that happens to many wrestlers once they get heavier they don't perform as well. The Blow Away Diet come on! Terrible gimmick."

[9.0] "I have to admit that the "9" rating I give Playboy Buddy Rose is based almost solely on his work in Portland and Seattle, where I watched him every week for years. It's hard to describe how much the crowds hated him because he could generate more heat than a dozen tanning booths. Rose was a guy who'd get bopped from one corner to another for much of a match until he'd cheat his way to yet another dubious win, then get on the mic with announcer Frank Bonnema and REALLY get the fans riled. By the time he went national, his weight problems were already affecting his in-ring mobility and what people outside the Northwest saw was not the same Buddy Rose we used to loathe. The low ratings others have given him have to be coming from people who only saw him in the Eighties because in his prime in the Seventies, he was at least as big in his territory as contemporaries like Jimmy Snuka, Jesse Ventura and Roddy Piper. You had to be there because the videos only do him so much justice. Maybe the greatest heel the Northwest has ever known."

[9.0] "I know guys who can argue Rose as one of the top 10 greatest wrestlers of all time. When I was a teen and saw Rose in WWF and even in AWA as the tag champ, I was NOT a fan. I saw this fat guy and it offended me that I was supposed to take him serious as a wrestler. When he got tossed around the ring, I was happy that he was being crushed. I was not smart enough at the time to realize that bumping is a huge part of being a good wrestler. Making fans hate you is a huge part of being a heal. Years later I got access to his Portland work and saw that when he was being given the ball to run with... he could heal or face with the best of them. His act was over like rover and even when the fans saw him every single week, he could still connect and make them care. He did let himself get very out of shape at the end, but his natural athletism was so amazing that he could still work even when so obese. I probably should rate him a 10, but my personal bias still leans towards guys who are in better shape and 'look' the part of being kickass"

[8.0] "Stunned by this low rating. Rose was a good old school worker, watch his tag matches against the Midnight Rockers in the AWA, he was a great heel."

[8.0] "I honestly am stunned to see Rose's rating this low. Rose had charisma and he knew how to work, especially when taking bumps. He did great stuff in Portland with Roddy Piper and in the AWA he and Doug Somers had a great feud with the Rockers and it wasn't all Shawn and Marty in those matches carrying things because both of them were still young guys who weren't at the point where they could have a great match on their own. Rose was a good hand and he really should be acknowledged for also how many guys he had a hand in getting into the business and also for saving much of the lost Portland wrestling promotion by taping it off of television as he was one of the first guys with a VCR."

[9.0] "I never understood how true legends of the sport can be rated so low by the IWC. Based on any criteria with the exception of mic work, Buddy Rose was a bonafide superstar. An amazing talent, that put of amazing matches. 9/10, losing points to sloppy mic work, but gaining points for incomparable charisma for his period of time."

[8.0] "A great wrestler, who excelled as a heel character. Controlled the crowd very well and was a excellent seller (also great in comedic segments). Too bad that he gained more and more weight with each year, so his mobility really declined. Nonetheless, in his prime he was great. Around the year 1980 he had a decent case for being the best in-ring worker in the world - his matches in Portland are all great. It is too bad, that people haven't watched this stuff."