If you queue up the footage of the very first
match of WrestleMania in the air, you will see
a masked man. Right. A guy called the Executioner.
He walks down the aisle and ultimately he loses
to Tito Santana. Yeah, that's how it went down.
But what the history books often gloss over is
that the masked man in the ring that night was
secretly one of the most important foundational
architects in the entire industry. He really
was. So, welcome in. If you're someone who loves
finding the hidden connective tissue behind pop
culture history, you are in for a treat today.
Absolutely. We have a really fascinating stack
of source material today. It's centered around
a highly detailed Wikipedia article outlining
the life, the career, and the unique ring psychology
of a professional wrestler named Pauly Pershman.
Though, you know, if you follow the skirt circle
at all, you almost certainly know him by his
legendary ring name. Right. Playboy Buddy Rose.
The Playboy. And I just want to set the stage
for you listening. Today's mission for this deep
dive isn't just to recount a standard biography.
No, as colorful as his life was, we're aiming
for something a bit deeper here. Exactly. We
want to explore the psychology of performance
today. We're looking at how one individual can
secretly serve as a kingmaker for global superstars.
Which is wild to think about. It is. And perhaps
most importantly, we are going to look at how
leaning into your personal flaws, rather than
hiding them, can actually create... Absolute
entertainment gold. Okay, let's unpack this.
Let's do it. Because to really understand the
Playboy persona, we have to start at the very
beginning, long before the glitz and the glamour.
Right, before Vegas. Yeah, we are starting with
the man himself. Paul Pershman was born in Omaha,
Nebraska. Good old Midwest. Born in November
of 1952. And growing up, he wasn't... He wasn't
immediately drawn to the wrestling ring. Not
at all. The sources note his youth was actually
spent playing traditional sports, baseball, softball,
hockey. Which is crucial, really. He was building
this foundational athletic base that would serve
him incredibly well later on. Yeah, that agility.
Exactly. It wasn't until the early 1970s that
he was trained by Vern Gagne and Billy Robinson.
Two absolute legends. Right. Two men known for
their rigorous, punishing submission styles.
Which perfectly sets the stage for his debut.
And it is one of those debuts that feels almost
too perfect in hindsight. It really does. So
it was December 1973. He steps into the ring
for the first time as a standard babyface. A
good guy. Right. A good guy wrestling under his
real name, Paul Pershman. He pulls a 15 -minute
draw in Rice Lake, Wisconsin. Yeah. And his opponent
was another rookie named Bob Remus. Which, for
you listening, you probably know Bob Remus much
better as the legendary Stoughton Slaughter.
I mean, think about that visual for a second.
It's crazy. You have two rookies in Rice Lake,
Wisconsin, in the dead of winter in 1973, wrestling
to a standstill for 15 minutes. Both of them
just figuring out their pacing, their conditioning,
and how to tell a story in the ring. Paul doesn't
stay in the Midwest forever. By 1976, he transitions
out to the Pacific Northwest wrestling territory.
All right, the PNW. And this is the exact moment
the Omaha athlete vanishes and playboy Buddy
Rose is born. What's fascinating here is the
stark contrast between his actual roots and this
new persona. It's night and day. Completely.
To understand why this worked so well, you have
to understand the landscape of professional wrestling
in the 1970s. It wasn't what it is today. No,
this was the era of the territories. It wasn't
one massive global television product. It was
a patchwork of regional promotions. Right. And
the Pacific Northwest was known for its gritty,
working class, almost lumberjack aesthetic. So
if you want to make that specific audience hate
you. You completely shed the Midwestern hardworking
image. Instead, he becomes a 271 -pound villain
billed from the glitz, glamour, and excess of
Las Vegas, Nevada. The psychological contrast
is brilliant. He starts walking to the ring accompanied
by women. Yep. He's managed by the infamous Grand
Wizard. Such a great touch. He is dripping with
this arrogant persona that completely contradicted
the local demographic. And it worked. Oh, it
worked perfectly. And what really stands out
in the sources is the sheer volume of talent
he rubbed shoulders with early on. Just murderer's
row of talent. Exactly. Just looking at the names
he wrestled while refining this character. Billy
Graham. Dusty Rhodes. Legends. He was in the
ring with Khosrow Vaziri, who the world would
soon know as the Iron Sheik. Wow. This specific
era and these territories were truly an incubator
for future superstars. They were all testing
their characters and learning how to manipulate
a crowd's emotions. Right, and manipulating a
crowd is exactly what Buddy Rose excelled at.
He really did. He understood a fundamental rule
of storytelling a hero is only as compelling
as the villain they have to overcome. So true.
By adopting this flashy, arrogant Las Vegas persona,
he provided the perfect foil for those gritty
heroes of the territories. He was giving the
audience... But he ends a focal point for their
frustration. Which brings us to the next massive
phase of his career. And here's where it gets
really interesting. Because Buddy Rose didn't
just play a great character. He became the ultimate
ring catalyst for other people's success. He
was a kingmaker. Let's look at an anecdote from
1979 in Portland, Oregon. Buddy Rose wrestles
a young, fiery PNW heavyweight champion to a
draw. And who was that champion? Rowdy, Roddy
Piper. There you go. Now that alone is a cool
piece of trivia, but Piper actually went on the
record in his own autobiography and stated that
this specific feud with Buddy Rose is what established
his name in the wrestling business. That's huge.
Buddy literally put him on the map. That is a
crucial point, and it establishes a pattern that
defines Buddy Rose's entire legacy. Elevating
others. Elevating others, exactly. If we look
further down the timeline to his 1986 run in
the American Wrestling Association, the AWA,
we see the exact same dynamic play out. Right,
the tag team run. Yes, Rose forms a tag team
with Doug Summers, and they enter into a heated,
bloody feud with a young up -and -coming tag
team called the Midnight Rockers. And those two
young guys were Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels.
I have to pause you there because that contrast
is wild to picture. It really is. You have Buddy
Rose and Doug Summers, these gritty, seasoned,
slightly older veterans. Yeah. Going up against
Shawn Michaels and Marty Janady, who are flying
around the ring in bright neon. Exactly. It's
the perfect clash of styles. And again, Shawn
Michaels himself specifically credits this exact
feud with Rose and Summers for taking their team
to the next level. Amazing. Buddy Rose was essentially
polishing the rough diamonds of the industry.
He was teaching them ring psychology, timing,
and how to pace a match so the audience stays
invested from the opening bell to the final pinfall.
But wait, I want to ask about the mechanics of
this. Sure. Because I keep getting stuck on this
idea of him constantly putting other people on
the map. Okay. If Buddy Rose's role is constantly
elevating guys like Roddy Piper or Shawn Michaels,
how does he keep the crowd engaged with his own
character? Doesn't a villain lose their threat
level if they're constantly acting as the stepping
stone? That is a phenomenal question, and it
speaks to the hidden art form of the industry.
Well, in a business that was notoriously built
on massive egos and protective politics, where
your spot on the card directly dictated your
paycheck losing was a financial risk. Right.
You don't want to look weak. Exactly. But Buddy
Rose possessed an incredibly rare selfless skill.
Promoters knew they could trust him. He was reliable.
Extremely. They knew that if they put their rising
star in the ring with him, Rose would bum. Meaning
he'd take the physical falls. Right. He would
take the falls and act hurt with such conviction
that it made his opponent look incredibly dangerous.
So he made the illusion real for the audience.
Precisely. And he would maintain his own heat,
his own threat level by cheating or complaining
to the referee or using surprising bursts of
agility to temporarily outmaneuver the hero.
Ah, I see. He didn't need to win every match
to be hated. He just needed to be infuriating.
Which brings us right back to WrestleMania. in
1985. The grand stage. Right. The World Wrestling
Federation is putting on the biggest gamble in
the history of the business. Vince McMahon needs
the first match of the night to set the pace
for the entire event. He cannot afford a dud.
He can't. And Buddy Rose is there. But he's not
Playboy Buddy Rose. No, he's under a mask. Managed
by Bobby Heenan, Rose is put under a mask called
the Executioner. And he goes out there to lose
to Tito Santana in the inaugural match. It's
incredible when you think about it. The literal
opening bell of the biggest wrestling franchise
in history features Buddy Rose doing the honors
for someone else. It's the perfect synthesis
of his value. We talk a lot about enhancement
talent or being a veteran worker, and sometimes
those terms are used almost dismissively. Like
they're just background characters. Right. But
the reality is, whether he was giving Roddy Piper
his edge, taking Shawn Michaels to the main event
level, or setting the pace for the very first
match in WrestleMania history, he was silently
shaping the golden era of wrestling from the
shadows. And he didn't just stay in the shadows
either. No, he did not. Let's fast forward a
bit. To his 1990 to 1991 return to the WWF. Oh,
this is a great era. Because this is where his
genius for character work really shines through
in a totally different way. By this point in
his life, the sources note he had gained a significant
amount of weight. Yes. And a lot of performers
would try to hide that. They might wear a different
outfit, change their style, or just quietly fade
away from the national spotlight. But not Buddy.
Not Buddy. He turns his physical reality into
a brilliant comical gimmick that drew massive
reactions from the crowd. If we connect this
to the bigger picture, this is a masterclass
in the psychology of self -deprecation. It really
is. He took a very real, very visible vulnerability,
weight gain, and he completely weaponized it
for crowd heat. The routine was hysterical. Tell
them about the routine. So the ring announcer
would do the introductions and list Buddy Rose
at 317 pounds. And Buddy would just immediately
snap. Yep. He would snatch the microphone right
out of the announcer's hand and he would angrily
claim to the entire arena that he was a slim
trim 217 pounds. And the crowd would just shower
him with booze. The delusion of it was so funny.
And what made the delusion work so beautifully
was the juxtaposition of his size with his actual
physical ability. Right, because he could still
move. Oh, easily. Despite tipping the scales
at over 300 pounds, he maintained incredible
agility. He had that athletic base from his youth
in Omaha that we talked about. He would get in
the ring and do one -handed push -ups. Wait,
over 300 pounds and he's dropping down to do
one -handed push -ups? Yes. In the middle of
the ring. And he would do kip -ups. For those
listening, that's when you're lying flat on your
back and you pop up to your feet in one fluid
motion. Exactly. He would even challenge highly
muscular sculpted opponents to pose downs in
the middle of the ring, flexing as if he were
a bodybuilder. It is hilarious. He was incredibly
light on his feet, which only made the character
more infuriating for the audience. They couldn't
just dismiss him as out of shape because he was
out wrestling their favorite heroes. There are
two incredible details from the sources that
highlight how self -aware this entire run was.
Let's hear them. First, Buddy Rose claimed that
Vince McMahon allegedly told the entire locker
room, I want everybody to work out, except for
Buddy. Wow. The promoter knew the weight was
the entire hook of the gimmick. Makes perfect
sense. And second, Buddy Rose filmed this legendary
faux infomercial for something called the Buddy
Rose Blow Away Diet. I am so glad you brought
this up. It's iconic. You just have to picture
this. The premise was that he was pouring this
special dietary powder all over his body. Right.
And then instead of exercising, he would literally
just turn on a standard household desk fan and
blow the powder off himself. Just blowing it
away. And of course, the punchline is that after
the blow away. he looked exactly the same zero
result zero result he just stands there completely
deadpan acting like it's a revolutionary fitness
breakthrough brilliant unapologetic physical
comedy it takes a profound lack of ego to allow
yourself to be the punchline on national television
for the sake of the audience's entertainment
definitely you are inviting millions of people
to laugh at your physique It's easy for us to
laugh at the blow -away diet, and Buddy certainly
wanted us to. But we have to remember that when
a performer makes their physical flaws the punchline,
they are often using comedy as a shield. That's
a very valid point. Let's look behind that curtain
because we want to bring the story back down
to earth and talk about... the human being paul
pershman we do away from the bright lights the
loud crowds and the vegas persona he was a man
with a rich complex personal life yeah he was
he loved motown music he had two dachshunds that
he absolutely adored named prince and penny that's
a great detail over the course of his life he
was married three times first to lynette with
whom he had a daughter alexia Then a brief marriage
to Tony Osborne, the sister of fellow wrestler
Matt Osborne. Right. And finally, to Tammy Marie
Kelly, a fan from the Pacific Northwest who he
was married to from 1990 until the end of his
life. He also leaves behind four grandchildren.
The sources also ask us to delicately look at
the darker realities of his journey. Yes, they
do. The road takes a toll. The pressure to maintain
a character, to perform through pain, and to
constantly draw the anger of the crowd. It's
an immense psychological weight. It is a delicate
duality. Those personal shadows were very real.
They always are. That lifelong struggle with
obesity that he turned into a comedy routine.
It had severe real -world consequences leading
to serious blood sugar issues and diabetes. And
it didn't stop there. No. Furthermore, the sources
detail that he battled a severe cocaine addiction
for years. It was rampant back then. It was.
The pressure of the 1980s wrestling schedule,
driving hundreds of miles a night, wrestling
300 days a year, often pushed performers towards
substance abuse just to keep going. Just to survive
the schedule. For Buddy, it ultimately reached
a breaking point that required a six -week outpatient
rehab to overcome. It's a sobering reminder that
connects directly back to you, the listener.
It's a dynamic we see across so many forms of
media and performance. How do you mean? The brightest,
most entertaining figures, the ones who give
us the most joy and laughter, are often battling
intense personal shadows just to get through
the day. The line between the performer and the
person blurs, and the physical toll is undeniable.
Which makes his ability to navigate through those
shadows and find a more settled late career all
the more compelling. He didn't just fade into
the ether. He didn't. The sources show him finding
his footing again in the early 90s, having revivals
in his old stomping grounds of the PNW, and winning
titles in smaller promotions. Getting back to
his roots. Yeah. And he transitioned into the
mid to late 90s by hosting a call -in radio talk
show in Portland. That's a great pivot. It allowed
him to stay connected to the fans without taking
the physical bumps in the ring every night. He
eventually had a final retirement match in 2005
at an event called Wrestle Reunion down in Tampa,
teaming with his longtime partner, Colonel De
Beers. And even after he officially retired from
in -ring competition, he stayed connected to
the lifeblood of the industry. He opened a wrestling
school with De Beers in Portland to train the
next generation. Passing the torch. Exactly.
Passing on that incredible knowledge of ring
psychology and timing that had made him so valuable.
Sadly, Paul Pershman passed away in April of
2009 at the age of 56. Gone too soon. The medical
examiner attributed to natural causes, and he
was found peacefully in his chair at home in
front of his television by his wife. It's a quiet
end for a man who lives such a loud, vibrant
public life. But his impact on the industry is
indelible. When you trace the lineage of modern
professional wrestling, the sheer number of legendary
figures who owe a portion of their early success
to a program with Buddy Rose is staggering. So
what does this all mean? Yeah, how do we sum
it up? When we look at the total legacy of Playboy
Buddy Rose, we see a man who wasn't always the
guy on the poster. Right. When the history of
the 1980s wrestling boom is written, the focus
is usually on the larger than life heroes holding
the championship belts. But Buddy Rose was the
foundation they built their castles on. He was
the guy making the guys on the poster famous.
Perfectly said. And beautifully. That legacy
was officially cemented. when he received a well
-deserved induction into the WWE Hall of Fame
Legacy Wing in the class of 2019. Which is a
great honor. And, you know, this raises an important
question for you to mull over as we wrap up today's
deep dive. Let's hear it. We look in a world,
and especially a modern culture, that is utterly
obsessed with being the main character. Constantly.
We are constantly told to center ourselves, to
be the top star, the face on the billboard, the
one holding the trophy. But when you look at
the career of Paul Pershman, you have to ask,
What can we learn from a man whose greatest,
most enduring legacy was his unparalleled, selfless
ability to make the people around him shine?
That is a phenomenal thought to leave on. A huge
thank you to you, our listener, for spending
part of your day with us and joining us on this
deep dive into the archives. Thanks for listening.
Until next time, keep looking for the hidden
stories behind the history. Take care.