WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.040 Welcome to today's deep dive. Whether you are 00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:05.839 prepping for a major meeting or maybe commuting 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:07.320 to work or... I don't know, you're just someone 00:00:07.320 --> 00:00:09.119 who loves pulling apart the hidden architecture 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:11.539 of pop culture. Right, exactly. If that's you, 00:00:11.580 --> 00:00:14.140 you are in the right place. Today, we're pointing 00:00:14.140 --> 00:00:18.160 our spotlight at a deeply layered, highly complex 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:21.000 figure. We're looking at the life and career 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:23.219 of a man the world would eventually come to know 00:00:23.219 --> 00:00:26.699 as Playboy Buddy Rose. And we are working from 00:00:26.699 --> 00:00:29.160 a really comprehensive Wikipedia biography today. 00:00:29.519 --> 00:00:32.359 The source material, it tracks his life all the 00:00:32.359 --> 00:00:34.979 way from his roots in Omaha, Nebraska, through 00:00:34.979 --> 00:00:39.060 the grueling regional circuits, and eventually 00:00:39.060 --> 00:00:41.420 onto the grandest, most glittering stages of 00:00:41.420 --> 00:00:43.299 professional wrestling. Yeah, and looking at 00:00:43.299 --> 00:00:45.539 his Wikipedia bio, it's honestly easy to get 00:00:45.539 --> 00:00:47.719 distracted by the sequined robes and the theatrical 00:00:47.719 --> 00:00:50.219 villains. I mean, the costumes are amazing. But 00:00:50.219 --> 00:00:52.420 our mission for this deep dive is to look past 00:00:52.420 --> 00:00:55.170 the ring gear. Right. We want to uncover how 00:00:55.170 --> 00:00:58.149 one man utilized deep psychological tactics, 00:00:58.409 --> 00:01:01.030 weaponized self -deprecation and sheer athletic 00:01:01.030 --> 00:01:03.450 talent to shape the careers of multiple global 00:01:03.450 --> 00:01:06.629 superstars. It really functions as a masterclass 00:01:06.629 --> 00:01:09.030 in owning your narrative, even when the odds 00:01:09.030 --> 00:01:11.870 are entirely against you. Completely. OK, let's 00:01:11.870 --> 00:01:14.769 unpack this. Before he was the playboy, he was 00:01:14.769 --> 00:01:18.590 Paul E. Pershman. Born in Omaha in 1952. And 00:01:18.590 --> 00:01:21.370 he was a natural athlete from a young age, playing 00:01:21.370 --> 00:01:24.290 baseball and even hockey. Which you don't necessarily 00:01:24.290 --> 00:01:26.510 associate with pro wrestling right away. No, 00:01:26.609 --> 00:01:29.650 not at all. But in the early 1970s, he decides 00:01:29.650 --> 00:01:32.730 to enter the entirely unforgiving world of professional 00:01:32.730 --> 00:01:34.930 wrestling. And to understand what that meant 00:01:34.930 --> 00:01:38.280 in the early 1970s. You have to realize he didn't 00:01:38.280 --> 00:01:40.959 just walk into some, you know, air -conditioned 00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:42.700 performance center with a bunch of cameras. Right. 00:01:42.780 --> 00:01:44.900 It wasn't corporate back then. Not even close. 00:01:45.060 --> 00:01:47.879 He went to a legendary training camp run by Vern 00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:50.620 Gagne and Billy Robinson. And in the wrestling 00:01:50.620 --> 00:01:53.560 industry, those two men are famous for a discipline 00:01:53.560 --> 00:01:56.219 called catch wrestling. Which is brutal. Oh, 00:01:56.219 --> 00:01:59.200 they utilize a very stiff, punishing style. And 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:01.420 when we say stiff in wrestling terms, we mean 00:02:01.420 --> 00:02:04.019 the physical contact was heavy, the jaint locks 00:02:04.019 --> 00:02:06.459 were legitimate, the cardiovascular demands were 00:02:06.459 --> 00:02:09.080 torturous. Yeah, the sources make it clear. You 00:02:09.080 --> 00:02:12.520 simply did not survive their camp unless you 00:02:12.520 --> 00:02:15.419 were a legitimate, tough -as -males athlete who 00:02:15.419 --> 00:02:18.080 could endure intense physical pain. Which provides 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:20.319 a lot of context for his debut. So we're looking 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:23.560 at December 3, 1973 in Rice Lake, Wisconsin. 00:02:23.900 --> 00:02:26.360 He steps into the ring under his real name, Paul 00:02:26.360 --> 00:02:30.180 Pershman. Right. And he is positioned as a baby 00:02:30.180 --> 00:02:32.520 face. Which is just the industry term for the 00:02:32.520 --> 00:02:35.300 good guy. Exactly. The hero of the match. And 00:02:35.300 --> 00:02:38.780 he wrestles to a grueling, highly physical 15 00:02:38.780 --> 00:02:41.680 -minute draw. But the opponent for that debut 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:44.099 match is such a fascinating data point. It really 00:02:44.099 --> 00:02:46.759 is. It was a fellow campmate named Bob Remus. 00:02:46.919 --> 00:02:49.439 who the entire world would eventually know as 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:51.780 the legendary A Trait Slaughter. A Trait Slaughter. 00:02:51.919 --> 00:02:54.180 It's a brilliant little snapshot of history of 00:02:54.180 --> 00:02:56.460 two absolute rookies fresh out of this brutal 00:02:56.460 --> 00:02:58.800 training camp just battling to a standstill. 00:02:58.939 --> 00:03:02.340 And it perfectly sets the stage for his early 00:03:02.340 --> 00:03:04.719 grind. He spent his first few years wrestling 00:03:04.719 --> 00:03:06.840 under his own name, getting in the ring with 00:03:06.840 --> 00:03:10.580 massive established stars. But despite his obvious 00:03:10.580 --> 00:03:12.580 technical talent, and he was talented wrestling 00:03:12.580 --> 00:03:15.620 as Paul Pershman, the good guy, wasn't quite 00:03:15.620 --> 00:03:18.039 taking him to the absolute top of the industry. 00:03:18.180 --> 00:03:19.979 The audience wasn't connecting with him on a 00:03:19.979 --> 00:03:22.319 visceral level. Exactly. The in -ring work was 00:03:22.319 --> 00:03:25.300 there, but the persona wasn't clicking. And he 00:03:25.300 --> 00:03:28.169 recognized that plateau. The sources note that 00:03:28.169 --> 00:03:31.210 after a loss in early 1976 to a wrestler who 00:03:31.210 --> 00:03:33.330 would later become the Iron Sheik, he decides 00:03:33.330 --> 00:03:35.509 to depart the promotion. He needed a change of 00:03:35.509 --> 00:03:37.550 scenery. Right. He starts touring the National 00:03:37.550 --> 00:03:39.849 Wrestling Alliance territories, eventually landing 00:03:39.849 --> 00:03:41.810 in the Pacific Northwest Wrestling Promotion, 00:03:41.810 --> 00:03:45.810 or the PNW, in October of 1976. And this is the 00:03:45.810 --> 00:03:48.669 pivot. He debuts his new moniker, Buddy Ross. 00:03:48.909 --> 00:03:50.909 What's fascinating here is the territory system 00:03:50.909 --> 00:03:54.740 of the 1970s. Because back then, wrestling wasn't 00:03:54.740 --> 00:03:57.379 one giant national television monopoly like we 00:03:57.379 --> 00:03:59.599 think of today. It was incredibly fractured. 00:03:59.740 --> 00:04:01.840 Right. It was a patchwork of regional promotions. 00:04:02.180 --> 00:04:05.120 So a wrestler could pack their bags, drive to 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:06.960 a new state where they weren't on television, 00:04:07.159 --> 00:04:10.080 and entirely reinvent themselves. Think of it 00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:12.780 like a corporate rebrand or moving to a new city 00:04:12.780 --> 00:04:15.039 for a first start in your career. Nobody in the 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:18.259 new town knows your past failures. Exactly. And 00:04:18.259 --> 00:04:21.259 changing his name to Buddy Rose, adopting this... 00:04:21.470 --> 00:04:25.269 slightly arrogant flamboyant gimmick yeah it 00:04:25.269 --> 00:04:28.170 was the crucial missing piece it gave him permission 00:04:28.170 --> 00:04:30.589 to turn up the volume on his personality and 00:04:30.589 --> 00:04:33.000 force the crowd to react to him And it seems 00:04:33.000 --> 00:04:35.399 like that reinvention paid off almost immediately. 00:04:35.819 --> 00:04:37.879 He became a massive attraction in the Pacific 00:04:37.879 --> 00:04:40.319 Northwest. He started capturing championships, 00:04:40.740 --> 00:04:43.319 teaming with Jesse Ventura to win tag titles. 00:04:43.420 --> 00:04:45.600 Which is a huge name to be associated with. Huge. 00:04:45.740 --> 00:04:48.420 But looking at the sources, this era is most 00:04:48.420 --> 00:04:50.720 notable because it laid the foundation for his 00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:53.560 decades -long tag team partnership with Ed Wyskoski. 00:04:53.699 --> 00:04:56.279 Who wrestling fans might remember later as Colonel 00:04:56.279 --> 00:04:58.839 De Beers. Right. They won titles together in 00:04:58.839 --> 00:05:01.620 1977, and they would team up on and off for decades. 00:05:01.829 --> 00:05:04.250 He was traveling everywhere, winning the tag 00:05:04.250 --> 00:05:07.089 championship in Hawaii with John Studd and a 00:05:07.089 --> 00:05:09.389 United States heavyweight title in San Francisco. 00:05:09.550 --> 00:05:11.889 He was definitely collecting regional gold. Yeah. 00:05:11.949 --> 00:05:14.649 No doubt about it. But if we look closely at 00:05:14.649 --> 00:05:17.529 his career trajectory, the titles are almost 00:05:17.529 --> 00:05:20.009 secondary to his real value in the industry. 00:05:20.069 --> 00:05:23.290 How so? Because as Buddy Rose, he became the 00:05:23.290 --> 00:05:26.620 ultimate heel. And for anyone unfamiliar with 00:05:26.620 --> 00:05:28.839 the term, a heel is the villain. Their entire 00:05:28.839 --> 00:05:31.519 job is to be despised by the audience. And being 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:35.079 a genuinely effective heel is a highly specialized, 00:05:35.399 --> 00:05:37.680 deeply psychological skill. I really want to 00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:40.019 dig into that psychology because he became the 00:05:40.019 --> 00:05:42.500 essential villain for future legends. Yes. The 00:05:42.500 --> 00:05:45.319 sources detail a specific story from May of 1979 00:05:45.319 --> 00:05:48.120 in Portland, Oregon. Buddy Rose wrestles the 00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:50.519 heavyweight champion to a draw. And that champion 00:05:50.519 --> 00:05:52.980 was none other than Rowdy Roddy Piper. One of 00:05:52.980 --> 00:05:55.180 the greatest of all time. And the feud was so 00:05:55.180 --> 00:05:58.339 intense, the crowd investment was so high, that 00:05:58.339 --> 00:06:01.600 Roddy Piper specifically credits this exact feud 00:06:01.600 --> 00:06:05.279 with Buddy Rose in his own autobiography. Piper 00:06:05.279 --> 00:06:07.379 says this was the program that established his 00:06:07.379 --> 00:06:10.180 name in the wrestling business. If we connect 00:06:10.180 --> 00:06:12.600 this to the bigger picture, we're looking at 00:06:12.600 --> 00:06:15.040 the concept of the star maker heel. The star 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:18.620 maker. Yeah. In storytelling, a hero is only 00:06:18.620 --> 00:06:20.600 as good as the villain they have to overcome. 00:06:21.410 --> 00:06:23.790 In professional wrestling, making the good guy 00:06:23.790 --> 00:06:25.810 look incredible is arguably the most important 00:06:25.810 --> 00:06:28.589 job in the entire industry. It's totally counterintuitive 00:06:28.589 --> 00:06:30.350 to how we normally think about sports, right? 00:06:30.550 --> 00:06:33.709 Usually you just want to win. Exactly. But here, 00:06:33.829 --> 00:06:36.509 to make the other guy look good, the heel has 00:06:36.509 --> 00:06:39.449 to master crowd manipulation. They have to know 00:06:39.449 --> 00:06:41.850 exactly when to cheat to make the crowd furious, 00:06:42.149 --> 00:06:44.569 when to act cowardly to give the audience hope, 00:06:44.730 --> 00:06:47.050 and when to take a spectacular fall so the hero 00:06:47.050 --> 00:06:49.220 looks like a million bucks. So it's almost like 00:06:49.220 --> 00:06:51.420 being the ultimate supporting actor. Your entire 00:06:51.420 --> 00:06:54.040 job is to set the stage so the leading man gets 00:06:54.040 --> 00:06:56.439 the Oscar. You have to put your own ego completely 00:06:56.439 --> 00:06:58.620 aside for the success of the broader narrative. 00:06:58.839 --> 00:07:01.540 That is the perfect analogy. Think about being 00:07:01.540 --> 00:07:04.319 on a project team where your entire role is to 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:06.399 do the heavy lifting in the background, set up 00:07:06.399 --> 00:07:08.420 the presentation perfectly, and then let the 00:07:08.420 --> 00:07:10.620 project manager take the applause. That takes 00:07:10.620 --> 00:07:14.120 a lot of humility. Immense humility. And flawless 00:07:14.120 --> 00:07:17.060 pacing. A veteran like Buddy Rose knew exactly 00:07:17.060 --> 00:07:19.319 how to pace a 20 minute physical performance. 00:07:19.459 --> 00:07:22.100 So the crowd's emotional peak happened exactly 00:07:22.100 --> 00:07:24.220 when the promoter wanted it to. And he proved 00:07:24.220 --> 00:07:26.220 he could do that for different types of performers, 00:07:26.339 --> 00:07:28.740 not just brawlers like Roddy Piper. Let's look 00:07:28.740 --> 00:07:31.620 at 1986. He has a run in the American Wrestling 00:07:31.620 --> 00:07:35.079 Association, the AWA. He teams up with Doug Summers. 00:07:35.220 --> 00:07:37.660 They win the tag team championship and then they 00:07:37.660 --> 00:07:40.920 enter a bitter, highly physical feud with a young, 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:44.100 incredibly fast, high flying tag team called 00:07:44.100 --> 00:07:59.180 the. Which is a legendary pairing. It is a recurring 00:07:59.180 --> 00:08:02.259 theme in his biography. When a wrestling promoter 00:08:02.259 --> 00:08:04.199 had a young talent that needed to be tested, 00:08:04.399 --> 00:08:07.339 hardened, and legitimized in the eyes of a skeptical 00:08:07.339 --> 00:08:09.959 audience. They called Buddy Rose. They put them 00:08:09.959 --> 00:08:12.360 in the ring with Buddy. They needed a veteran 00:08:12.360 --> 00:08:14.560 who could safely guide these young guys through 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:18.079 a complex match, absorb their innovative offense, 00:08:18.379 --> 00:08:21.639 and systematically transfer his own negative 00:08:21.639 --> 00:08:25.040 crowd reactions, his heat, onto the young heroes 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:28.319 to make the fans love them. He was a cornerstone 00:08:28.319 --> 00:08:30.339 for the next generation, but I don't want to 00:08:30.339 --> 00:08:32.100 give the impression he was strictly a regional 00:08:32.100 --> 00:08:34.600 talent or just a stepping stone for others. Oh, 00:08:34.620 --> 00:08:37.029 definitely not. Buddy Rose had massive international 00:08:37.029 --> 00:08:40.309 tours in New Japan Pro Wrestling, and he had 00:08:40.309 --> 00:08:42.950 high -profile main event runs in the World Wrestling 00:08:42.950 --> 00:08:45.590 Federation, the WWF. The big leagues. Exactly. 00:08:45.870 --> 00:08:49.389 In 1982, he was managed by the legendary Grand 00:08:49.389 --> 00:08:52.049 Wizard. He would walk to the ring, accompanied 00:08:52.049 --> 00:08:54.629 by Sherry Martel and Judy Martin, and he was 00:08:54.629 --> 00:08:57.490 challenging top champions like Bob Backlund and 00:08:57.490 --> 00:08:59.889 Pedro Morales in main events at Madison Square 00:08:59.889 --> 00:09:02.649 Garden. Madison Square Garden is the mecca of 00:09:02.649 --> 00:09:05.600 arenas. You don't get put in the main event there 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:08.019 for a world championship unless the company has 00:09:08.019 --> 00:09:11.299 absolute unwavering faith in your ability to 00:09:11.299 --> 00:09:13.940 draw a paying crowd and deliver a compelling, 00:09:14.059 --> 00:09:16.379 flawless performance under the brightest lights 00:09:16.379 --> 00:09:18.279 possible. It's the ultimate proving ground. It 00:09:18.279 --> 00:09:20.519 is the ultimate pressure test. And speaking of 00:09:20.519 --> 00:09:22.899 the company testing him under pressure, here's 00:09:22.899 --> 00:09:25.480 where it gets really interesting. Today, we all 00:09:25.480 --> 00:09:28.240 know WrestleMania is a global stadium spectacle. 00:09:28.600 --> 00:09:31.740 Pop culture royalty. Massive. But back in 1985, 00:09:32.220 --> 00:09:34.740 the inaugural... WrestleMania was an unprecedented 00:09:34.740 --> 00:09:38.200 gamble. And the very first match of that historic 00:09:38.200 --> 00:09:41.500 event featured Tito Santana wrestling a masked 00:09:41.500 --> 00:09:44.600 man named The Executioner. Right. That masked 00:09:44.600 --> 00:09:47.759 man was Buddy Rose. That detail is profound when 00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:49.679 you understand the stakes. Think of it this way. 00:09:49.740 --> 00:09:53.100 In 1985, the concept of a massive closed circuit 00:09:53.100 --> 00:09:55.700 pay -per -view was largely unproven in this industry. 00:09:55.820 --> 00:09:58.279 It was a massive financial risk. Vince McMahon 00:09:58.279 --> 00:10:02.009 had borrowed heavily to fund WrestleMania. He 00:10:02.009 --> 00:10:04.389 essentially bet the entire company on its success. 00:10:04.970 --> 00:10:07.649 If the very first match of the night is sloppy, 00:10:07.750 --> 00:10:10.289 or if the live crowd is bored and the energy 00:10:10.289 --> 00:10:12.570 drops, the people watching on screens across 00:10:12.570 --> 00:10:16.049 the country tune out. And if they tune out? The 00:10:16.049 --> 00:10:18.610 entire event could flatline, and the company 00:10:18.610 --> 00:10:21.090 potentially goes bankrupt. So they needed a safety 00:10:21.090 --> 00:10:24.529 net. Exactly. Opening the biggest, most financially 00:10:24.529 --> 00:10:27.289 risky event in wrestling history is terrifying 00:10:27.289 --> 00:10:29.970 for a promoter. They needed an absolute guarantee 00:10:29.970 --> 00:10:32.230 that the match would be technically sound, that 00:10:32.230 --> 00:10:34.470 the crowd would be instantly engaged, and that 00:10:34.470 --> 00:10:36.889 the good guy, Tito Santana, would start the show 00:10:36.889 --> 00:10:39.070 with a spectacular victory. They needed everything 00:10:39.070 --> 00:10:41.570 to go exactly to plan. And being selected to 00:10:41.570 --> 00:10:43.269 be the very first person to walk through the 00:10:43.269 --> 00:10:45.649 curtain at WrestleMania proves his supreme reliability. 00:10:46.669 --> 00:10:49.129 Buddy Rose was the guarantee. So he works that 00:10:49.129 --> 00:10:51.470 historic match under a mask, does his job perfectly, 00:10:51.610 --> 00:10:53.970 and then departs the WWF to go back to tearing 00:10:53.970 --> 00:10:56.370 it up in the regional territories. But let's 00:10:56.370 --> 00:10:58.409 fast forward a bit to the 1990s because this 00:10:58.409 --> 00:11:00.590 era highlights a totally different kind of genius. 00:11:00.889 --> 00:11:03.370 A completely different phase of his career. He 00:11:03.370 --> 00:11:07.769 returns to the WWF in 1990. And he is primarily 00:11:07.769 --> 00:11:10.490 being used as an enhancement talent. Meaning 00:11:10.490 --> 00:11:14.029 his specific job. was to wrestle on national 00:11:14.029 --> 00:11:18.120 television and lose to elevate established stars 00:11:18.120 --> 00:11:20.620 right but at this point in his life his body 00:11:20.620 --> 00:11:23.220 had changed he had gained a significant amount 00:11:23.220 --> 00:11:25.840 of weight which is tough because in a highly 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:28.980 visual aesthetic driven industry that was increasingly 00:11:28.980 --> 00:11:32.360 obsessed with bodybuilder physiques massive weight 00:11:32.360 --> 00:11:34.820 gain could easily be a career ending limitation 00:11:34.820 --> 00:11:37.120 yeah you look at the wrestlers in the early 90s 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:39.480 they look like action figures precisely many 00:11:39.480 --> 00:11:41.759 athletes in his position would have quietly retired 00:11:41.759 --> 00:11:44.740 or hidden from the cameras But his response to 00:11:44.740 --> 00:11:46.840 this physical change was brilliant. He takes 00:11:46.840 --> 00:11:49.000 this potential weakness and turns it into absolute 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:51.799 comedy gold. He creates a legendary television 00:11:51.799 --> 00:11:54.500 gimmick directly out of his obesity. He's amazing. 00:11:54.659 --> 00:11:57.279 Picture this visual. The ring announcer introduces 00:11:57.279 --> 00:12:00.740 him and states his actual weight, which was 317 00:12:00.740 --> 00:12:04.450 pounds. Buddy Rose would look visibly outraged. 00:12:04.509 --> 00:12:07.250 He would stomp over, snatch the microphone away 00:12:07.250 --> 00:12:10.149 from the announcer, and furiously scream at the 00:12:10.149 --> 00:12:14.129 crowd that he was actually a slim trim 217 pounds. 00:12:14.309 --> 00:12:16.590 It's so good. And the crowd would just shower 00:12:16.590 --> 00:12:18.610 him with booze because the lie was so visually 00:12:18.610 --> 00:12:21.309 absurd. This raises an important question about 00:12:21.309 --> 00:12:23.529 the brilliance of extreme self -deprecation. 00:12:24.330 --> 00:12:27.210 He took the one thing he was likely most insecure 00:12:27.210 --> 00:12:30.049 about. the exact physical trait the audience 00:12:30.049 --> 00:12:32.769 was already judging him for, and he weaponized 00:12:32.769 --> 00:12:34.789 it. He owned the joke before they could make 00:12:34.789 --> 00:12:36.889 it. By leaning into the absurdity of the lie 00:12:36.889 --> 00:12:38.789 and demanding the audience believe he was skinny, 00:12:39.029 --> 00:12:41.250 he took all the power away from his critics. 00:12:41.549 --> 00:12:44.409 He turned a physical limitation into highly lucrative... 00:12:44.620 --> 00:12:47.100 unforgettable entertainment it is such a bizarre 00:12:47.100 --> 00:12:50.240 wonderful visual you have a 300 plus pound man 00:12:50.240 --> 00:12:52.539 getting into the ring with highly muscular opponents 00:12:52.539 --> 00:12:55.659 and demanding a pose down flexing his arms like 00:12:55.659 --> 00:12:58.039 he was mr olympia the confidence is staggering 00:12:58.039 --> 00:13:01.519 or Out of nowhere, he would suddenly drop down 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:03.879 to the mat and do effortless one -handed push 00:13:03.879 --> 00:13:06.240 -ups. Which is incredible at that size. He would 00:13:06.240 --> 00:13:08.879 even do athletic kip -ups. You know that acrobatic 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:11.139 martial arts move where you're lying flat on 00:13:11.139 --> 00:13:13.019 your back and suddenly pop up onto your feet 00:13:13.019 --> 00:13:15.139 in a split second? Showing off that old school 00:13:15.139 --> 00:13:17.879 training. Exactly. Proving to the crowd that 00:13:17.879 --> 00:13:20.600 he still had that grueling Vern Gagne agility 00:13:20.600 --> 00:13:24.440 in him, regardless of his size. The sources note 00:13:24.440 --> 00:13:26.679 a famous quote from Vince McMahon during this 00:13:26.679 --> 00:13:29.509 era where he reported, told the locker room, 00:13:29.570 --> 00:13:32.710 I want everybody to work out except for Buddy. 00:13:33.129 --> 00:13:35.710 Because the weight was the core of the gimmick. 00:13:36.190 --> 00:13:38.590 If he lost the weight, the joke wouldn't work 00:13:38.590 --> 00:13:41.690 anymore. He had made himself indispensable by 00:13:41.690 --> 00:13:45.169 being entirely unique. And this era culminated 00:13:45.169 --> 00:13:47.610 in one of the most memorable television vignettes 00:13:47.610 --> 00:13:50.529 of the 1990s. Oh, the Buddy Rose blow away diet. 00:13:50.629 --> 00:13:52.210 For anyone who hasn't seen this piece of television 00:13:52.210 --> 00:13:54.649 history, he filmed this incredibly elaborate 00:13:54.649 --> 00:13:57.889 faux infomercial. A classic. He claimed you could 00:13:57.889 --> 00:14:00.250 lose massive amounts of weight without ever exercising. 00:14:00.549 --> 00:14:03.490 He would pour a jar of white powder all over 00:14:03.490 --> 00:14:06.250 his body and then use a standard household fan 00:14:06.250 --> 00:14:08.950 to literally blow away the fat. Just dusting 00:14:08.950 --> 00:14:11.870 it off. Right. And of course, when the powder 00:14:11.870 --> 00:14:15.370 cleared, he looked exactly the same, but he danced 00:14:15.370 --> 00:14:17.850 around acting like he was miraculously skinny. 00:14:18.460 --> 00:14:21.340 It is comedic timing at its absolute finest. 00:14:21.659 --> 00:14:24.799 It really is. And strategically, that comedic 00:14:24.799 --> 00:14:27.620 timing kept him on national television, continually 00:14:27.620 --> 00:14:31.120 employed and relevant, long past the point where 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:33.320 a traditional wrestler of his size and age would 00:14:33.320 --> 00:14:35.539 have been let go. It shows a brilliant, highly 00:14:35.539 --> 00:14:40.000 adaptable mind. It does. But, as with all great 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:42.340 entertainers who make us laugh, there is a complex, 00:14:42.539 --> 00:14:44.559 often struggling human being behind the curtain. 00:14:44.830 --> 00:14:46.950 There is. And we want to pull back that curtain 00:14:46.950 --> 00:14:49.309 on Paul Pershman's personal life to give you 00:14:49.309 --> 00:14:52.049 a complete picture of who this man was. Outside 00:14:52.049 --> 00:14:54.029 the ring, the sources paint a picture of a guy 00:14:54.029 --> 00:14:56.529 who absolutely loved Motown music. I love that 00:14:56.529 --> 00:14:59.419 detail. Yeah, and in the mid to late 90s, after 00:14:59.419 --> 00:15:02.139 his national television run ended, he actually 00:15:02.139 --> 00:15:05.100 hosted a call -in radio talk show in Portland. 00:15:05.480 --> 00:15:08.879 He was a dedicated dog lover. He had two dachshunds 00:15:08.879 --> 00:15:11.320 named Prince and Penny that he adored. Very normal, 00:15:11.379 --> 00:15:13.159 grounded things. He was married three times, 00:15:13.299 --> 00:15:14.919 first to Lynette, with whom he had a daughter, 00:15:15.019 --> 00:15:17.600 Alexia. Through Alexia, he had four grandchildren. 00:15:18.179 --> 00:15:20.580 He later had a brief marriage to Tony Osborne, 00:15:20.679 --> 00:15:23.580 and finally he married Tammy Marie Kelly in 1990, 00:15:23.879 --> 00:15:25.639 and they stayed together for the rest of his 00:15:25.639 --> 00:15:28.879 life. Hearing those quiet domestic details, the 00:15:28.879 --> 00:15:31.340 dachshunds, the grandkids, the local radio show, 00:15:31.500 --> 00:15:34.279 it really grounds the story. It reminds us that 00:15:34.279 --> 00:15:36.600 the performers we see taking these massive physical 00:15:36.600 --> 00:15:39.539 risks on television have regular quiet lives 00:15:39.539 --> 00:15:41.440 when the cameras finally turn off. Yeah, they 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:43.740 aren't just characters. And inevitably, they 00:15:43.740 --> 00:15:47.340 face very human, very difficult struggles. The 00:15:47.340 --> 00:15:49.600 source material is very transparent about his 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:51.980 darker battles. The grueling travel schedule 00:15:51.980 --> 00:15:54.100 and the constant physical pain of the industry 00:15:54.100 --> 00:15:57.470 took a severe toll. He fought a years -long cocaine 00:15:57.470 --> 00:15:59.730 addiction, which eventually escalated to the 00:15:59.730 --> 00:16:02.070 point where he had to complete six weeks of intensive 00:16:02.070 --> 00:16:04.789 outpatient rehab to get clean. And that highlights 00:16:04.789 --> 00:16:07.529 the stark contradiction of his 1990s comedic 00:16:07.529 --> 00:16:10.210 persona. The audience was laughing at the blow 00:16:10.210 --> 00:16:14.190 -away diet and the slim, trim, 217 -pound routine. 00:16:14.789 --> 00:16:17.529 But behind the scenes, that same weight gain 00:16:17.529 --> 00:16:20.169 was part of a deeply difficult, lifelong struggle 00:16:20.169 --> 00:16:23.149 with severe obesity. It wasn't just a prop. No, 00:16:23.169 --> 00:16:25.429 it was a health crisis that led to severe blood 00:16:25.429 --> 00:16:27.649 sugar issues and debilitating diabetes later 00:16:27.649 --> 00:16:29.850 in his life. It is a sobering reminder of the 00:16:29.850 --> 00:16:31.950 physical and mental cost of entertaining us. 00:16:32.129 --> 00:16:34.409 He continued wrestling on the independent circuit 00:16:34.409 --> 00:16:37.210 for years, having a bit of a career revival in 00:16:37.210 --> 00:16:39.169 the Pacific Northwest and the West Coast Championship 00:16:39.169 --> 00:16:41.929 wrestling promotion in Canada. Keeping the passion 00:16:41.929 --> 00:16:44.830 alive. But he finally hung up his boots for good 00:16:44.830 --> 00:16:48.330 in 2005. His final match was at an event called 00:16:48.330 --> 00:16:52.019 Wrestle Reunion in Tampa, Florida. And fittingly, 00:16:52.019 --> 00:16:55.159 he was in the ring against his old career -defining 00:16:55.159 --> 00:16:58.840 rival, Roddy Piper. A very poetic end to his 00:16:58.840 --> 00:17:02.200 in -ring career. Full circle. Four years after 00:17:02.200 --> 00:17:05.599 that final match on April 28, 2009, he tragically 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:08.640 passed away. His wife Tammy found him peacefully 00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:11.119 in his chair in front of the television at their 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:14.230 home in Vancouver, Washington. So sad. The medical 00:17:14.230 --> 00:17:17.009 examiner attributed his death to natural causes, 00:17:17.130 --> 00:17:19.569 heavily influenced by his long -term battle with 00:17:19.569 --> 00:17:22.890 diabetes and weight issues. He was only 56 years 00:17:22.890 --> 00:17:25.450 old. Far too young. But his legacy in the industry 00:17:25.450 --> 00:17:28.309 was permanently cemented. Ten years later, in 00:17:28.309 --> 00:17:31.589 2019, he was posthumously inducted into the WWE 00:17:31.589 --> 00:17:34.450 Hall of Fame legacy wing. It is a well -deserved, 00:17:34.529 --> 00:17:36.849 permanent honor for a man who spent the vast 00:17:36.849 --> 00:17:39.210 majority of his professional life making sure 00:17:39.210 --> 00:17:41.170 everyone around him looked like a million bucks. 00:17:41.369 --> 00:17:42.910 So what does this all mean? When we look back 00:17:42.910 --> 00:17:44.849 at... the life of Paul Pershman, the man the 00:17:44.849 --> 00:17:47.289 world knew as Buddy Rose, we are looking at an 00:17:47.289 --> 00:17:49.769 unseen architect of the modern wrestling landscape. 00:17:50.029 --> 00:17:52.670 He was a guy who survived the most brutal old 00:17:52.670 --> 00:17:55.410 school training methods, headlined the most famous 00:17:55.410 --> 00:17:57.930 arenas in the world, was trusted to serve as 00:17:57.930 --> 00:17:59.750 the safety net for the very first WrestleMania, 00:18:00.130 --> 00:18:03.369 and when his body inevitably changed, he completely 00:18:03.369 --> 00:18:06.250 reinvented himself as a comedic genius to stay 00:18:06.250 --> 00:18:08.849 relevant. And for you listening, whether you 00:18:08.849 --> 00:18:11.589 are trying to navigate a corporate ladder, Managing 00:18:11.589 --> 00:18:14.109 a complex team or just dealing with unexpected 00:18:14.109 --> 00:18:16.849 changes in your own life, there is a profound 00:18:16.849 --> 00:18:19.970 takeaway in how Buddy Rose operated. What's the 00:18:19.970 --> 00:18:22.349 biggest lesson you see? He understood his role 00:18:22.349 --> 00:18:25.170 with absolute clarity. He knew that sometimes 00:18:25.170 --> 00:18:27.910 your job isn't to be the hero or the one getting 00:18:27.910 --> 00:18:30.650 the applause. Sometimes your job is to elevate 00:18:30.650 --> 00:18:32.829 those around you so the entire team succeeds. 00:18:33.289 --> 00:18:36.269 And perhaps most importantly, he never let circumstances 00:18:36.269 --> 00:18:39.140 dictate his worth. When the industry shifted, 00:18:39.319 --> 00:18:41.880 he adapted, changed his tactics, and found a 00:18:41.880 --> 00:18:44.359 brand new way to be completely invaluable. We 00:18:44.359 --> 00:18:45.980 want to leave you with one last thing to ponder 00:18:45.980 --> 00:18:48.819 on your own today. Buddy Rose succeeded wildly 00:18:48.819 --> 00:18:50.640 in the later part of his career by taking his 00:18:50.640 --> 00:18:52.880 biggest physical insecurity, his weight, and 00:18:52.880 --> 00:18:54.759 aggressively thrusting it into the spotlight 00:18:54.759 --> 00:18:57.460 rather than hiding from it. Which takes incredible 00:18:57.460 --> 00:19:00.690 bravery. It makes you wonder. How much mental 00:19:00.690 --> 00:19:03.609 energy do you waste every single day trying to 00:19:03.609 --> 00:19:06.230 conceal your own perceived flaws from your coworkers 00:19:06.230 --> 00:19:08.869 or your friends? And what might happen if, like 00:19:08.869 --> 00:19:11.289 Buddy Rose, you stop hiding, aggressively owned 00:19:11.289 --> 00:19:13.670 those flaws, and figured out a way to weaponize 00:19:13.670 --> 00:19:15.769 them into your greatest, most memorable assets? 00:19:16.069 --> 00:19:18.089 Think about it. Thanks for taking this deep dive 00:19:18.089 --> 00:19:18.630 with us today.